A Selective Gathering
by Revenant-Commander
Summary: In a future where the Justice League has brought hope, Oliver Queen still holds regrets over the cost the secrets and lies of his early years. Using the technology of the day, Oliver and his allies bring forward a select group of people who were hurt the most by the secrets and lies of both Oliver and Sara Lance, and gives them the chance to learn the truth before Oliver's rescue.
1. Chapter 1: The Arrival

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, DC Comics, or anything related to them. This fic is not making any profit. **_

_**Chapter Changes: Added Slade and changed the greeting from Victor, and the layout of the viewing room. **_

A SELECTIVE GATHERING

BY

REVENANT-COMMANDER

Chapter 1:

The Arrival

Oliver Queen had many regrets in his life. Perhaps his greatest regrets stemmed from his tendency to keep secrets and lie to his family and friends, a tendency that had been cultivated by Slade Wilson and others during Oliver's time on Lian Yu. While things had eventually smoothed out, Oliver had the belief niggling in the back of his brain that things could have been so much different if he had let his family in. But he knew even if he used the time travel technology the Justice League had access to, he wouldn't be able to convince his younger self of the need to abandon the training from Slade and others. No, the island had too deep a hold on Oliver the first two years back, and it was those first two years of secrets and lies that had all but destroyed everyone and everything Oliver held dear.

So, working in conjunction with Victor Stone and Barry Allen, along with Hal Jordan when the Green Lantern felt like being involved, Oliver had devised a way of letting his family and friends learn the truth so they could help his younger self adjust and become the man he was that much sooner. He had sold the idea to Clark/Superman by including Slade Wilson and Malcolm Merlyn. His pitch had been that if the two men saw what happened from an outside perspective, that could make the difference between the menace the Dark Archer posed and the near-destruction of Starling City that Deathstroke had caused, particularly since they now had a better understanding o the Mirakuru and its affects on the mind. After some consideration, Oliver had also decided to include Sebastian Blood. Perhaps there could be some hope for the Alderman of the Glades if he knew that trying to emulate Malcolm Merlyn, though for different reasons, would come back to bite him in the ass.

Using technology from one of the other great civilizations out there (technology on Superman had access to thanks to the Kryptonian library locked away in the Fortress of Solitude), the JLA had used the memories of Oliver and those closest to him during that time to give a fairly objective outlook on the events of the years that would soon follow. Oliver had considered only doing the first two years, but decided to show them all that had happened in the end since it would give them an insight into how things would unfold in the next few years without a serious intervention.

Victor had volunteered to handle the meet and greet, and Oliver had accepted the offer. It would be too confusing for his family and friends to meet him, and then realize the man they were talking to was nothing like the Oliver they were about to get back from the Island. Victor could handle being neutral. Oliver would be leaving the station soon enough, to avoid any possible surprise meetings during the viewing.

Victor received the signal from Oliver that he had left not long after the report that everything was ready to go and sighed. He thought Oliver was making a mistake by bringing Merlyn onboard, but he also knew if he failed to bring those two men here, Clark would give him a lecture about second chances and how most wouldn't have given him one thanks to his cybernetic nature. Victor nodded to Barry, who activated the machine that would, for lack of a better term, pluck the participants from their own time stream and deliver them to the arrival chamber.

Moira and Thea Queen were the first to arrive. They looked startled, and huddled close together. Moira's sharp eyes flitted around the room even as Quentin Lance arrived, with his daughter Laurel and Tommy Merlyn arriving soon after. The two had clearly been having another discussion about their on again off again relationship if the flushed cheeks and firm expressions was anything to go by. Sebastian Blood arrived a moment later, with Malcolm Merlyn the next to arrive, and finally, Slade Wilson arrived, dressed in a suit and with his eyepatch luckily attached.

Victor decided to enter before anyone could begin speculating as to what happened, as well as head off any 'turf wars', since Slade and Malcolm were eying one another and Quentin was keeping an eye on Wilson (he didn't see Malcolm as much of a threat). Victor entered the arrivals chamber, drawing attention and a few gasps at his appearance. He smiled at the group. "My apologies for the method of transportation used," Victor said, "but it was the only viable option. You'll have noticed the light shivering going through your bodies by now." Seeing raised eyebrows, Victor continued, "That is the body's reaction to the aftermath of a temporal shift."

Malcolm looked the cyborg up and down. "Temporal shift. . . . combine that with the technology present in your body, that's visible and likely that's also under the skin, and I assume that we are at some point in the future?"

Victor nodded to Merlyn. "Yes. You've been brought here because a good friend of mine believes that there are certain events that are coming up in your lives that could be changed if secrets and lies were not so rampant. He has paid a heavy price and has spent a long time finding a way to change all that."

Moira stepped forward. "Who is this man you speak of? Why isn't he here to tell us this himself?"

"All will be revealed in time," Victor replied. "However, there is one thing that must be taken care of. Most of you know who each other are, if only by reputation, while one is a stranger." Here, Victor leveled a gaze at the 'somewhat younger' Deathstroke. "Mr. Wilson, these are Queens, Merlyns, and Lances. I don't think I need to explain why _you_ are here."

Wilson allowed a small smirk to form as his eye took in the group. He had recognized the Lance girl, of course; he nodded slightly to the cyborg, aware he had no knowledge of what was occurring or if there was someone who could take him down in this time period. "Now, if you'll all follow me, we can get this project underway." Victor turned and led them out of the room. Slowly, the group followed Victor to a room that was not unlike the living room at the Queen Mansion, complete with a television set and DVD player. "We've furnished this room with familiar technology so as to make this easier for you. We possess a technology that allows historical events to be portrayed in video format for use in history classes; the technology uses the memories of those involved to make it less dry and more, well, entertaining so as to hold the interest of the viewer, since they're often used in high school history classes. We all know how long teenagers pay attention."

Thea gave an offended, "Hey!" which broke the tension the group was feeling. Victor smiled at his friend's little sister and said, "No offense intended, Ms. M-Queen." At the quick correction, a few people in the room glanced at the cyborg in question, while Malcolm's eyes had widened just a fraction. "Now, when you reach a point where you are feeling ready to rest, hit that nodule," he pointed at a large blue nodule by the door, "and someone will come to escort you to the rest quarters that have been prepared."

Victor turned to go. Laurel, who had kept her father from going after the man to try and arrest him or something like that, called out, "Can you tell us anything about the man? What reason we have to be here?"

Victor paused for a moment. "You must form your own opinions and feelings on the matter at hand, Ms. Lance. That is the directive of this entire project." With that, Victor departed.

Slowly, the group moved to take their seats as a red blur entered the room, forming into a man who looked around. "Sorry, the tin-can forgot to set things up for you. One sec." It was indeed one second as the man blurred again and had everything set up. The remote for the television and DVD player was deposited in Laurel's lap. Sandwiching Laurel was her father and Tommy, the older of which was glaring at the younger. Thea and Moira were on a loveseat, waiting for this whole thing to begin so they could get back home, for different reasons. Moira was worried about Walter, while Thea had plans to meet up with her friends. Malcolm had taken the armchair nearest Moira and Thea, so he could speak to Moira quietly if need be; Sebastian had taken an armchair between the sofa and loveseat; and Slade had taken the final armchair, which was situated between the sofa and the loveseat.

Laurel, steeling herself for whatever might come, began the video. None of those present could possibly have prepared themselves for what was about to be revealed.

_**A/N: Okay, here's to hoping things work out. **_


	2. Chapter 2: Pilot

_**Chapter Changes: Slade and Blood introspection; expanded Slade dialogue.**_

Chapter One:

Pilot

_A figure is running through the woods, ducking under trees and jumping across gaps. The figure arrives on a bluff, looking out over the island and the sea beyond it. A fishing ship can be seen in the distance. The man continues to run, and comes to a stop near a cache of arrows. He slams a well-worn K-Bar knife into the rock and uses it to light the tar around the arrow. He fires it, and it collides with a bonfire on the beach. _

"Excellent form," Malcolm said, drawing the attention of the others. Laurel paused, not seeing Tommy's long-suffering expression as his father's interest in esoteric fighting styles detracted from this viewing. Having to spend an elongated period of time in his father's company was not how Tommy wanted to spend their time in this. . . . future.

Slade eyed the businessman whom he had considered a threat upon first arriving and said in a decidedly neutral tone, "You have an interesting archery?" He had, of course, recognized the K-Bar as the one the Kid had used during those first few months together.

"It's a passion of mine, along with fencing," Malcolm replied.

"I like swords," Slade said, echoing the words he had once spoken to Oliver. "A more honorable weapon you cannot find."

"Maybe you two can bond over your love of esoteric combat forms later?" Tommy asked. Malcolm sighed, but nodded. He wished his son would be more forthright, more willing to take a stand against things they didn't like. For all his partying before he had died with Robert, Oliver had been what Malcolm wished his son would aspire to be.

Slade eyed the younger, dark-haired man with distaste. The younger Merlyn reminded him far too much of the Kid's early days.

_On the ship, two crewmen see the bonfire. _

_A tattered and burned black and yellow mask with an arrow struck through one side rests on the remnants of a pole, almost as though acting as a grave-marker. _

Slade's eye softened from its normal steely gaze at this sign of respect by his friend. Was everything he remembered true, or was there another story, one he had ignored in his rage? Still, even if there was. . . . the Kid had let Shado die, had made the choice between Shado and the Lance bitch.

Malcolm considered that image for a moment. It was almost a sign of respect, or was it perhaps a warning? Whoever this archer was, Malcolm was certain the friend the cyborg had mentioned was him.

_The crewmen of the ship step onto the island as the hooded figure steps forward, falling to his knees in relief as he pulls the hood back. _

"_The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu. _

Shock. Awe. Hope. Dread. These four emotions were warring with one another as Moira recognized her son's voice. It had been so long, she had almost forgotten how he sounded. Next to her, Thea was crying as she, too, recognized her brother's voice and realized he was still alive, that he was going to be able to come home. They knew where he was now. They could send a rescue. Moira glanced over at Malcolm, who shook his head slightly to show he would not intervene; he would wait and see how events played out. Moira knew, intellectually, that the Malcolm who would be portrayed in the events being shown would not be that way, but she felt the hope that this Malcolm, the one here with her, would not do that.

Quentin felt a mix of hope and anger at hearing Queen's voice. Hope, because it might mean that Sara was still alive. He had spent these past five years hating Queen for taking his younger daughter on that boat, breaking his older daughter's heart in the process twice-over. Laurel had somehow managed to soldier on and go to law school, but Quentin had his suspicions Laurel had been living a lie these past five years to keep from talking about Oliver, Sara, and anything related to them.

Conflict was the name of the game in Laurel Lance. For Laurel, hope for both Oliver and her sister warred with the gnawing anger that had festered for five long years against both of them.

Tommy was elated that his best friend was alive. He was a bit conflicted since he had started looking at getting together with Laurel in a serious relationship (the one thing he had avoided thus far), but all in all, the chance to have his best friend back was worth the possible heartache. Finally, Malcolm found himself intrigued by Oliver's ability with a bow and the fact he had survived the _Gambit_'s sinking.

Slade Wilson watched the reactions of the room and the only ones he found most interesting were those of Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn. There was something there, something dark between the two of them.

_It's Mandarin, for purgatory. _

"Since when does Oliver know Mandarin?" asked Thea. "He can barely speak English." Laurel and Tommy smiled at that, since Thea was remembering her brother during some of his less-than-stellar moments most likely. Slade remembered Oliver's lessons with Shado, and again found himself remembering happier times, before the arrival of the _Amazo_. He was surprised Shado had yet to visit him. What he was not aware of was that the room they were in was specifically designed to repress hallucinations that were induced by outside influences, including the Mirakuru. Another little gift from the Kryptonian library.

_I've been stranded here for five years, and I've dreamt of my rescue every cold black night since then. For 5 years, I have had only one thought, one goal: survive. Survive and one day return home."_

_The man is seen on the ship, being handed a hot beverage by one of the crew._

_"The island held many dangers. To live, I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning; not the boy who was shipwrecked, but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city."_

Laurel looked surprised at this new side of Oliver. She never would have suspected him to have a strong desire for justice, since he had teased her on occasion about her wanting to become a lawyer. Of course, the teasing had often been about the fact that she was dating someone who was a frequent guest of the police force for any and all misdemeanor charges. Maybe this would give her and Oliver something more to talk about than Sara.

Quentin, for his part, was skeptical at the idea that Oliver Queen, playboy and drug user extraordinaire, would have any sense of justice.

Malcolm leaned back in his seat, expression thoughtful. Oliver was younger, stronger, and was committed to ending the corruption in the city from the sounds of it. Malcolm was the first to admit he had used the corruption in the city to his advantage, so this could possibly cause problems with he and Oliver. But the one thing that reverberated in his mind was that Oliver was doing what Malcolm wished his own son would do; take a stand against crime and not contribute to it. Malcolm had been considering an awakening lesson for Tommy, to force his son to grow up, since otherwise he was simply another trust fund kid who didn't care about the city he lived in. That Oliver was returning with a new set of skills and a desire to see justice wrought on the criminals of Starling made Malcolm even more certain that he would need to give Tommy that kick in the pants.

Slade steepled his fingers, watching the man on the screen closely. The man on the screen was not the spoiled boy he had helped forge into a different person, nor was he the desperate youth who had taken Slade's eye. No, the man on the screen. . . . it was like looking into a mirror. Oliver Queen had become the same man Slade had been when they first met; a survivor, a warrior. He truly was Slade's brother now. . . this bore consideration.

Sebastian knew the reputation of the Queens, and he wondered whether Oliver Queen was intending to target those who were wealthy and corrupt that trod on the people of the Glades to keep their wealth and power, or if he was intending to take down the people of the Glades. If it was the latter, Sebastian would not let him do it. Oliver Queen's would not be the first life Sebastian had taken if that was what it came down to.

_The man glares out towards where the Island can be seen, his expression dark. "My name is Oliver Queen."  
_

_A newscaster appears on the screen._

_"Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed "The Queen's Gambit." An image of Oliver being followed by paparazzi is shown. "Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi." An image of Oliver and Robert together is put up on the screen. "Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased."  
_

Moira closed her eyes and held Thea close as they finally received confirmation that Robert was dead. She had assumed as much, but it still hurt to know there was no chance Robert would return and save her and their family from the nightmare she had been living under Malcolm. She wanted to believe the best of Malcolm, but it was getting harder; especially now that Malcolm's dark-hooded enforcer had taken to dealing with those who found themselves disenchanted with Malcolm's plans.

"_20 percent of his body is covered in scar tissue." Oliver, now with a haircut and in a hospital gown, can be seen looking out at the city beyond the window. "Second-degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed." _

Despite his anger at Queen, Quentin Lance found himself feeling sympathetic. He had hated the kid for leading Sara to her death, but it sounded like he had either had a rough go of it on the island, or he had been tortured. Quentin seriously hoped it was the former, because he knew there was no way he could hold onto his anger at Queen if the boy had been tortured.

_Moira, watching her son through the glass, turns. Her expression is one of hidden devastation. "Has he said anything about what happened?" _

"_No," the doctor replies. "He's barely said anything. Moira, I'd like you to prepare yourself. The Oliver you lost might not be the one they found." Moira nods quickly, then enters the room.  
_

"_Oliver?" she calls in a wavering voice. _

_Oliver turns. For a moment his expression is blank, than a soft smile can be seen. "Mom."  
_

_Moira goes up to him, her composure loosening with each step, until she half-sobs, "Oh, my beautiful boy," and wraps her arms around him. Oliver returns the hug almost woodenly._

Moira, Laurel, and Thea all had tears shining in their eyes. Quentin hugged Laurel to him, and Moira did the same with Thea. Malcolm met the eyes of his son, who was looking a bit lost, and smiled. Tommy smiled back, knowing that even if they didn't get along well, his father knew how much his best friend coming back meant to him. Of course, Tommy was sure his father would feel the same if Mr. Queen was alive. The two had been as close as brothers themselves; not to mention, Tommy had noticed that, even growing up, Malcolm had taken an interest in Oliver's actions more than Tommy's own.

Slade eyed the group and kept himself from growling in exasperation. If this was the atmosphere the Kid had hailed from, then no wonder he was so pathetic when they first met. On the off-chance Slade didn't go through with his plans for vengeance (as slim a possibility as it was, it still existed), he would need to keep the Kid from going soft.

_Now daytime, a car pulls up to the Queen Mansion. Oliver gets out and, when the driver reaches for a large wooden case, grabs it on his own and says, "I've got it."_

_Inside, Oliver sets the case down as Moira turns to him, saying, "Your room is exactly as you left it. I never had the heart to change a thing." Oliver looks around the entrance hall as Walter Steele approaches. "Oliver. It's damn good to see you." He shakes Oliver's hand, while Oliver looks at him in confusion. "It's Walter. Walter Steele."  
_

_Moira touches Oliver on the arm. "You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company." Oliver nods, then goes to the maid, who is standing there with a smile on her face.  
_

"_It's good to see you, Raisa."  
_

"_Welcome home, Mr. Oliver," the maid replies before turning to Moira and Walter. "Mr. Merlyn phoned. He wants to join you for dinner."_

"_Wonderful. Oliver? Did you hear that?" _

_Oliver appears to ignore her as he goes to the bottom of the steps. He looks up to where Thea is standing. "Hey, sis."_

_Thea bounds down the stairs, and wraps her brother in a hug which he returns with a bit more warmth. "I knew it. I knew you were alive. I missed you so much."  
_

"_You were with me the whole time."_

_At the CNRI office, Laurel is in the middle of an argument with Joanna as they move through the office. "Come on, Laurel. We're lawyers, not miracle workers. We can't win this."  
_

_Laurel sifts through files as she replies, "If we can't win a class-action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings, then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office."  
_

"_And if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't be a legal aid office. Hunt has an army of lawyers, and they're ready to bury us."_

"Adam Hunt?" Malcolm directed his question at Laurel, who looked surprised, but nodded. "An ambitious target, but a well-deserving one. Good luck with it, Ms. Lance."

"Thank you, Mr. Merlyn," Laurel said, looking a little surprised and gratified at the compliment and well wishes from the enigmatic CEO of Merlyn Global.

Tommy also looked surprised, but was glad that his father was being less distant.

Sebastian was likewise surprised, but could tell that Malcolm Merlyn was sincere. Perhaps Merlyn had an idea of what it was like in the Glades and couldn't see a way to help. _  
_

"_You and I against an army. I love those odds."  
_

"_Why do you hate me?"_

_Joanna walks away as Laurel sits at her desk. In the background, chimes of the news can be heard before a newscaster says, "And in other news, details as to the castaway story you've all heard about the son of a very wealthy billionaire will soon become a legendary story. Jessica now has more details and the complete castaway story." Laurel stands and moves to watch the news story with the rest of the office. _

_"The Queen's Gambit was last heard from more than 5 years ago. Mr. Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident that took the lives of seven people, including local resident, Sara Lance, survived by her sister, Laurel-" Laurel turns off the TV, bringing the attention of the office to her._

"Well, it's good to have confirmation, at least," Quentin said, holding his remaining daughter close as Laurel seemed to curl in on herself. Tommy placed a hand on Laurel's shoulder comfortingly, and she reached for it. "Better to know for sure than be left wondering."

"I'm so sorry, Quentin," Moira said, echoing her words of five years ago.

Quentin smiled back painfully and said, "At least you'll get Oliver back. I might never feel comfortable around him again, but. . . ." Quentin trailed off, staring at the screen. Laurel, impatient and not wanting to dwell in her grief for the moment, had begun the playback again.

Slade had to keep from smirking, since Sara had made it to the Island. . . . she just hadn't made it off of it. Not completely, anyways.

_Back at the Queen Mansion, Oliver is coming out of the shower in nothing but a towel. Scars and tattoos are visible on his torso. _

Quentin's mouth went dry, and he wasn't the only one who looked shocked and horrified. He swallowed and said, "Those aren't natural."

"No, they're not," agreed Malcolm. "I think we can assume Oliver's injuries were from torture." Moira let out a soft gasp, almost a sob, at the possibility as Thea curled against her mother. Malcolm, for his part, was cataloguing in his mind the best doctors he knew of. He knew the toll such damage could take on the body; his training with the League of Assassins had given him insight into it. If he could help Oliver recover, the younger archer might be more open to his plans for the Glades, assuming Oliver was intending to take the fight to Malcolm and his allies and not just filth like the previously mentioned Adam Hunt.

"We should keep watching," Laurel said, numbly. "We-we need to know what happened. So we can help him. . . . even if he doesn't want our help." There was instant agreement from Moira and Thea at this. Tommy was staring at his father with a look of surprise and concentration, as though he wasn't sure who his father really was anymore.

Slade felt both regret and a sense of satisfaction; regret that Bill Wintergreen had been the first to show the boy the true meaning of pain, and satisfaction that he had continued those lessons. But the boy had many more scars now. . . . it would be interesting to learn how he got them.

"_After 5 years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The face I see in the mirror is a stranger." A flash of lightning, and the reflection changes for a moment to show a man in a hood before another flash of lightning. _

_The image shifts to a hallway in the Queen's Gambit as Robert Queen and one of the crewmen enter from the outside. _

"Robert," Moira whispered softly.

"_The storm's a category 2. The captain's recommending we head back."  
_

_Robert replies, "All right. Inform the crew."_

_Oliver comes up to them. "Are we in trouble?" _

_Robert smiles at his son as he says, "One of us is."_

_"Ollie?" Sara is leaning out the cabin door. "Where do you keep the bottle opener on this thing?" _

_Oliver gestures for her to go back inside. "I'll be there in a minute, Sara."  
_

_Robert puts a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "You know, son, that is not going to finish well for either of them or for you."_

Quentin felt a surge of happiness that Robert Queen had a sense of honor that his son had lacked. _  
_

_Back in the Queen Mansion, Oliver is looking at a picture when the door opens behind him. He turns to see Tommy standing there. "What did I tell you? Yachts suck."  
_

"_Tommy Merlyn."  
_

_The two men hug._

"_I missed you, buddy."  
_

_Now at dinner, Tommy is catching Oliver up on things he missed. "Ok. What else did you miss? Super bowl winners Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and "Lost," they were all dead I think." Meanwhile, Walter and Moira are clearly in a romantic relationship. _

"You haven't told him yet, have you?" Malcolm said, noticing Oliver's reaction to Moira and Walter's interaction.

"Oh, my," Moira said, as she took note of the same thing. She made a mental note to inform Oliver as soon as she could once she got him home.

The one thing no one was mentioning, or even talking about, was that Oliver had, thus far, not made any mention of his desire to bring justice. All of them wondered what that meant.

_Thea asks Oliver, "What was it like there?" _

_Everyone stops, turning to look at Oliver, who says, "Cold."  
_

_After a moment, Tommy says, "Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on."  
_

"_That sounds like a great idea," Moira adds.  
_

"_Good," Oliver replies. "Then I was hoping to swing by the office."  
_

_Walter appears startled as he finishes a drink rather quickly. "Well, there's plenty of time for all that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."  
_

_Raisa accidentally drops a bit of food near Oliver and she says, "Oh, I am so sorry, Mr.  
Oliver." Oliver replies to her in Russian, assuring her. _

Malcolm raised an eyebrow at this.

Slade, meanwhile, recalled that one of Ivo's prisoners, one of those who had escaped to the Island with Sara, had been a Russian. He had no doubt it was also the same man who had destroyed the _Amazo_ with Oliver and Sara onboard. _  
_

_Tommy looks surprised, and with a smirk says, "Dude, you speak Russian?" _

_Walter, looking curious, says, "I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver."  
_

_Oliver replies, "I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Moira and Walter look shocked for a moment before glancing at Thea, who shakes her head.  
_

"_I didn't say anything."  
_

"_She didn't have to."_

_Moira nods and takes Walter's hand as she says, "Oliver, Walter and I are married, and I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."  
_

_Walter takes up from there with, "We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone."  
_

"_It's fine," Oliver said before pushing away from the table. "May I be excused?" _

_At Moira's nod, he walks away as Tommy says, "Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy."  
_

_Oliver is seen sleeping on the floor before flashing back to the Queen's Gambit, where Sara counting can be heard. "It's getting closer," Sara says._

Oliver, with a pair of champagne glasses in hand, walks over, handing Sara a glass as he says, "That's not very scientific."  


_Sara takes the glass, asking, "What would you know about science, Mr. Ivy League dropout?" _

_Oliver, a flirtatious look on his face, says, "I happen to know a lot about science. I know about fermentation. I know biology." _

_The two begin kissing briefly before Sara says, "Laurel's gonna kill me. Oh, she's so gonna kill me."_

Quentin felt a thrill of foreboding. "No, please, don't be showing. . . ." Laurel looked at her father, confused for a moment, before she realized what he meant. Everyone else came to the same conclusion: they were about to see the Gambit sinking. Moira tightened her arm around Thea. _  
_

"_Your sister will never know," Oliver says before he moves towards Sara again. "Come here."  
_

"_Ha ha!" The two kiss briefly before another clash of thunder is heard. "Ok, that one was really close."  
_

"_Sara, we're gonna be fine," Oliver says, before the boat suddenly lurches and the two are thrown against the wall. Oliver looks up, sees Sara with a cut on her forehead near the door. "Sara?" A gush of water can be seen, and Sara screams as she's pulled out. The next image is of Oliver in the ocean, looking around wildly. "Sara! Sara!" _

Laurel turned away from the screen, and Quentin closed his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, they continued. Laurel knew her father wouldn't be leaving her alone tonight, and for once, she was glad for his overprotectiveness. She needed someone there for her.

Slade once more had to keep from smirking, as he had seen the girl like that once before. . . just after he had thrown her across the room towards the hole blasted into the Amazo.

"_Oliver!" Robert and a crewman pull Oliver onto a life raft. Oliver turns and sees the Queen's Gambit sinking. _

"_Sara!" Robert and the crewman hold Oliver back as he tries to get back into the ocean and find her. "No!"_

"_Oliver, she's not there." _

_Dad, she's out there! Sara!"_

"_She's gone, son."  
_

_Back in the Queen Mansion, Oliver is sleeping in front of the window, rain covering his body, as Moira attempts to shake him awake. "Oliver, wake up. Oliver?" Oliver awakens, and his reaction is to knock Moira to the ground and place a hand in a knife-style chop across her throat. _

Moira felt shock ripple through her at the way her son had acted upon being awoken.

_Walter, standing nearby, shouts, "Oliver!" and wakes Oliver from his reflexive action. _

_Oliver glances down and scrambles away as Moira coughs, Oliver mumbling, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."  
_

_Moira puts a hand out towards him as she says, "Oh, it's ok, Oliver. It's all right, sweetheart. You're home. You're home."_

_The next day, Thea and a friend of her's are in her room, cutting crushed up pills into thin strips, most likely to snort them. _

"Thea Queen!" Moira said loudly, scandalized. "Your brother was bad enough, and I will not have you taking such substances in our home! Perhaps I need to look into sending you to a different school?"

Thea turned to Laurel and Tommy, both of whom were looking at her with serious expressions. "It's no worse than Oliver-"

"Thea," Tommy said, his voice serious and filled with a bit more authority than his usual charming commentary. "Oliver and I have done a lot, but we always stuck with alcohol and maybe a bit of marijuana. We never hit the hard stuff like that." Thea opened her mouth to issue a rebuttal, but then realized Tommy was right.

Malcolm shot Tommy a look of pride at seeing his son grow a bit firm with the girl in the room. Tommy flushed a bit, unused to his father's praise but basking in it all the same, even if it was unspoken.

_Thea, a semi-excited grin on her face, asks, "Where did you get these?" _

_Her friend smiles and says, "Roxies. Thank you, daddy's ACL tear."_

_A knock on the door precedes Oliver entering. Thea's friend sweeps the drugs into her palm as Thea says, "Ollie," and gives him a hug.  
_

_Oliver stiffens slightly but returns the hug and says, "No one's called me that in a while, Speedy."  
_

"Oh, he noticed," Thea groaned quietly.

_Thea, who has pulled away, sighs and says, slightly exaggeratedly, "Worst nickname ever."_

_Oliver smiles and says, "What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well." His expression becomes slightly more serious. "Maybe it still does."_

"Oh, he definitely noticed," Laurel said, glancing at Thea sternly. "And I can't believe it's going to be _Oliver Queen_ who gets through to you." Tommy coughed slightly, and Quentin let out a dry chuckle.

_Thea's friend, apparently sensing danger, leaves with a "See you at school, Speedy."  
Thea shakes her head, saying, "Sorry about her."  
_

_Oliver says, "I have something for you," while reaching into his pocket.  
_

"_You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir," Thea scoffs.  
_

_Oliver shows the hozen to her as he says, "It's a Hozen. And in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day, it would reconnect me with you."  
_

"What exactly happened on that island?" Tommy finally asked. "He has scars, tattoos, can speak Russian and Mandarin, and now knows traditions from Buddhism?"

_Thea smiles as she takes it. From behind them comes Tommy's somewhat mocking voice. "A rock!" Oliver tilts his head, smiling at Thea as Tommy comes around to stand to the side of the Queen siblings. "That is sweet. You know, I want one of those t-shirts that says 'my friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt'." _

_Thea smiles at the two before giving her brother a look. "Don't let him get you into too much trouble. You just got back. Take it slow."  
_

"_Ahem," Tommy fake coughs before gesturing. "The city awaits." The two leave Thea's room, the girl watching them go. In the hall, Tommy asks, "Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten?" Oliver looks about ready to beat him up, and Tommy raises his hands in surrender. "Because I have not."  
_

"Tommy. . . ." Laurel said warningly, a scowl heavy on her face. Malcolm was also giving his son a disapproving frown, while anyone who bothered to look could see Quentin was resisting the urge to deck the younger Merlyn.

Moira, unnoticed to the others, had paled a bit at Tommy's words. She was the only one here who knew the true relationship between Tommy and Thea, and the idea that Tommy would. . . . she shuddered and spoke sharply. "Tommy, if I even get the idea that you are making a move on Thea, I do not care how long our families have known one another. You will find yourself in a deep, dark hole with no way out, and no women upon whom to hit." Tommy's eyes widened at Moira's words, startled, while Quentin had a predatory grin on his face.

_Tommy and Oliver are driving through the city. "Your funeral blew," Tommy says.  
_

_Oliver, smiling, turns and asks, "Did you get lucky?" _

_Tommy chuckles, "Fish in a barrel. They were so sad. . . ." _

Malcolm spoke up next. "You used your best friend's funeral to pick up women?" The incredulity and scorn in Malcolm's voice perhaps hit hardest of all for Tommy, who knew how badly his mother's death had affected his father. Moira, of course, recalled Malcolm's own reaction to Rebecca's funeral and had to keep from commenting about how sons emulate their fathers.

_Oliver interjects with a groaned, "No. . . ."  
_

"_And huggy." Tommy continues. "And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."_

Quentin grumbled to himself about having undercover officers at that party to focus on Merlyn Jr. _  
_

"_At my what?" Oliver says, confused. _

_Tommy looks at Oliver like he's crazy. "You came back from the dead. This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything."  
_

_The car pulls up outside the Queen steel factory in the Glades. "This city's gone to crap. Your dad sold his factory just in time. And why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" _

Moira wanted to know that as well, while Malcolm looked. . . . intrigued. What was Oliver planning?

_Oliver looks out the window at the factory and mutters, "No reason."_

"Yeah, that's not suspicious at all," Laurel said sarcastically. _  
_

_Tommy, hands still on the wheel, asks, "So what'd you miss the most, steaks at the palm, drinks at the station, meaningless sex?" _

"_Laurel." _

Laurel started, looking surprised and then a mix of resigned and furious. Quentin groaned, and Tommy felt the urge to do so as well. Thea rolled her eyes and Moira hid a smile. Her son might have changed a lot, but it was clear at least one thing about him remained the same. Malcolm felt his lips twitch. If there was one thing Oliver was, it was consistent.

Slade, for his part, eyed the woman. She clearly had no idea how much the Kid felt for her. He wondered what she would think about his continual staring at her picture, or the relationship he engaged in wish Shado and the fact Shado had died because the Kid chose Sara over her.

_The one word answer sobers Tommy up. He turns in his seat to look at Oliver.  
_

"_Everyone is happy you're alive. You want to see the one person who isn't?"_

_At CNRI, Laurel is approached by Joanna as they walk through the narrow walkways of the room. "Laurel, I just got this from Hunt's lawyers." Joanna hands the file to Laurel. "They filed a change of venue. We are now in front of Judge Grell."_

"Bad luck," Malcolm said, grimacing. Laurel had to admit the older Merlyn had a point, which her on-screen self enumerated upon. _  
_

"_Hunt funded Grell's reelection campaign," Laurel replies. "He's got Grell in his back pocket."  
_

"_Mm-hmm," Joanna nods. "You know, it's fun being your friend. I get to say 'I told you so' a lot."  
_

"_No," Laurel says, turning to face Joanna. "Adam Hunt is not smarter than we are."  
_

"_No, he's just richer and willing to commit multiple felonies."  
_

"_We don't need to go outside the law-" Laurel begins. _

"_To find justice," Joanna finishes. "Your dad's favorite jingle."_

Quentin smirked, but the expression faded at Malcolm Merlyn's scoff. Quentin looked towards the man, who met his gaze evenly before turning back to the television.

_The two stop at seeing Oliver standing at Laurel's desk, looking at the pin-it board she has up, connecting Adam Hunt's various subsidiaries, crimes, etc. Oliver turns. "Hello, Laurel."  
_

_Outside, Oliver and Laurel are walking side-by-side. "You went to law school. You said you would," Oliver says.  
_

"_Yeah," Laurel replies shortly. "Everyone's proud."  
_

"_Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter," Oliver points out. "You sure you want to get in the ring with him?"_

_Laurel glances over at Oliver as she asks incredulously, "Five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?" _

"_No," Oliver replies softly. "Not really."  
_

"_Why are you here, Ollie?" _

"_To apologize," Oliver replies stiffly, an undercurrent of guilt in his voice and body language. "It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her."  
_

_Laurel looks about ready to scoff. "For what? Falling under your spell. How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things that I did?" _

"_I never meant to-" Oliver begins before Laurel cuts him off. _

"_She was my sister," Laurel says, anger creeping into her voice. "I couldn't be angry because she was dead. I couldn't grieve because I was so angry. That's what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend." She swallows her anger as she continues, "We buried an empty coffin, because her body was at the bottom of the ocean where you left her." Laurel pauses for a moment before saying accusingly, "It should have been you."  
_

"_I know that it's too late to say this, but I'm sorry," Oliver says.  
_

_Laurel, angry again, replies, "Yeah, I'm sorry, too. I'd hoped that you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than 5 years." She begins walking away, and passes by Tommy. "How did you think that was gonna go, Tommy?"_

"_About like that," Tommy replies. _

Laurel sighed and said, "That's going to happen no matter what. I have to get that off my chest. . . but I'll try to do it in a less bitchy fashion."

"I doubt Oliver will blame you for reacting that way, Laurel," Moira said softly. "If anything, he has probably done worse to himself." _  
_

_Tommy and Oliver are walking back to Tommy's car. Tommy says, "Ok, so we took care of that. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat sushi all day. What do you say?" _

"One track mind much, Merlyn?" Laurel asked with a raised eyebrow. Tommy looked sheepish.

_A van pulls up behind them. "What're they doing?" Tommy says, alarmed as men jump out and fire tranquilizers at the two young men. "What the hell?" Tommy gets out before succumbing to the dart's effects. _

Malcolm looked alarmed at this and sat up, ram-rod straight, as he focused all his attention on the events occurring on the screen.

_A cook carrying garbage comes out as Oliver is hit with a dart himself. "Hey!" the cook yells, only to be killed by one of the men with an automatic rifle. _

_In a flashback to the raft, Robert is handing Oliver a canteen. "Here, son. Drink." He helps Oliver drink the water._

"Woah, what's this now?" Thea asked.

Malcolm, tilting his head, said, "I think these are meant to show us whatever happened to Oliver on the Island, almost as if we're seeing two different sets of 'historical events' in one. Whatever is going on with Oliver has to do with the island. At least that would be my guess, Thea."

"Thanks, Mr. Merlyn," Thea replied, giving him a smile. Malcolm blinked. For a moment, he could have sworn it was Tommy's smile on Moira's face. But that couldn't be. Unless Moira had lied to him. . . .

_The crewman with them asks, "What the hell are you doing?! That's all we've got."  
_

_Robert replies, "If anybody's making it out of here, it's gonna be him!" He turns his attention back to Oliver, shouting over the storm. "I'm so sorry. I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city. I failed it. And I wasn't the only one."_

Malcolm sighed. So, Robert had told Oliver something about the Undertaking. He only hoped he hadn't told him everything. Otherwise, Malcolm would have to come up with another way of handling Oliver since he knew Moira wouldn't sit back and not react to her son being killed. He had spent too long making sure everything was ready to let it all fall apart now, when they were a little less than a year from completion.

_Back in the present, Oliver awakens in a warehouse, where one of the men, in a red skull mask, is threatening him with a taser. "Mr. Queen. Mr. Queen! Did your father survive that accident?" Oliver remains silent. The man in the mask uses the taser on him briefly. _

Moira's fingers tightened and Quentin grimaced. Who were these men, and who were they working for?

"_I ask the questions. You give me the answers. Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" The man hits Oliver with the taser again. Oliver takes a deep breath in and out, flexing his arms behind the chair. _

_Oliver looks up at the man in the mask. "Yes, he did."  
_

Moira looked up. So Oliver and Robert had made it to the Island together? Was Robert still alive and the rescue only a few weeks short of having her family united?

_The man nods. "What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?" _

_Oliver looks up at the man with anger evident on his face as he replies coldly, "He told me I'm gonna kill you."_

Moira recoiled from the screen in horror at her son's blunt, cold words. Laurel felt a similar sense of shock shooting through her body while Quentin was simply stunned. Thea looked horrified at her brother's words as well. Tommy was looking conflicted, because he was there, too, being held by those men. Malcolm leaned forward to see what happened next more clearly, a fact that evaded the interest of none in the room. Slade likewise leaned forward, wondering if the Kid had finally learned his lesson after the _Amazo_, and drew attention that he ignored. _  
_

_The men laugh. The one interrogating him says, "You're delusional. You're zip-cuffed to that chair."  
_

_Oliver displays his newly-freed hands, causing the men to fall silent. "Not anymore." Oliver fights with the men, killing them. One of the men flees, and Oliver checks on Tommy before giving chase. As Oliver runs off, Tommy's eyes open. _

"Impressive," Malcolm said, drawing the attention of the group.

"Dad? What do you mean? He just killed those men!"

"As surely as they would have killed the both of you once they had the information they wanted," Malcolm replied. "Be hopeful, Tommy, that I do not simply put a security detail on you to ensure such an occurrence does not occur in our own time stream. I'm sure that would cut further into your lifestyle than having a job would." Tommy grimaced at the thought, and at his father's distaste for his lifestyle.

"He did what he was trained to do," Slade said, drawing the attention of the group.

"Something you'd like to share with us, Mr. Wilson?" Moira asked, arching one eyebrow.

"Just an observation," Slade said. "I'm former ASIS; and your son has clearly received training of some kind. It makes sense that he was trained by someone on that Island, or somewhere else even."

_Oliver chases the man across the rooftops of the warehouses and into another building, where he uses a chain to swing in front of the man and disarm him before putting him in a backwards headlock. "You killed that man," Oliver says.  
_

"_You don't have to do this," the thug says desperately.  
_

"_Yes, I do," Oliver replies, almost dispassionately. "Nobody can know my secret." He breaks the man's neck.  
_

_Very impressive_, Malcolm thought, amending his views in the privacy of his own mind. He suspected his own secrets would come out eventually. At that point, his observations would make more sense to the others, but until that happened, he decided it was best to avoid drawing attention to himself, if it was even possible that no one suspected his true beliefs as of yet.

Slade let a small smirk cross his face. He recognized that technique; Shado had used it to save the Kid's useless neck from one of Fyers' men.

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is speaking with Detectives Lance and Hilton. "So that's your story," Lance says skeptically. "A guy in a green hood flew in and single-handedly took out 3 armed kidnappers. I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?" _

_A green hood_, Malcolm thought to himself. Perhaps it was an homage to his time on the Island, and to those who trained him; black was, after all, much better for urban camoflauge, which was why the League of Assassins used it.

Slade idly hoped that his brother would honor Shado's memory with that hood rather than continue to dishonor it as he had in the past.

"_I don't know," Oliver says abruptly, looking at Quentin with a thin-lipped half-smile. "Find him and you can ask."  
_

"_Yeah," Quentin says before turning to look at Tommy. "What about you? You see the hood guy?" _

"_I saw. . . ." Tommy glances at Oliver for a moment before continuing, "Just movement. Everything blurry. I was kind of out of it."_

Malcolm tilted his head. He was pretty certain that his son knew that Oliver had had something more to do with that than Oliver was telling the police, but that he was following Oliver's lead. Perhaps, if Oliver and Malcolm worked together, they could help Tommy on a path to become more than he was at the moment. _  
_

"_Yeah," Quentin says again. "It's funny, isn't it? One day back, and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?" _

_Moira, looking a mixture of disapproving and startled, asks, "Were you able to identify the men?" _

_Hilton says, "Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons. These were pros."  
_

"_Yeah," Quentin again says. "Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back or a Queen's ransom, as it were. After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe."  
_

_Moira shakes her head as she says, "I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective."  
_

_Walter, sensing danger, says, "If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming."  
_

_Quentin looks at Oliver for a moment and says, "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" He leaves with Hilton. _

_Oliver, in his room, is researching Adam Hunt. In front of him is the notebook with the List. _

Malcolm's focus sharpened again.

_Raisa enters with a tray of food. Oliver closes out his Internet browser. _

"_You are different," Raisa says as she brings the tray in. "Not like you to read a book."  
_

_Oliver closes the notebook and says, "I missed you, Raisa."  
_

"_No kitchen on the island," she teases slightly.  
_

"_No," Oliver replies. "No friends either."_

"_Hey." He helps her with the tray. "Thank you." He sets the tray down, then turns to look at her. "Do I really seem different?" _

"_No," Raisa says. "You're still a good boy."  
_

"_Oh, I think we both know I wasn't."  
_

"_But a good heart," Raisa replies.  
_

"_I hope so," Oliver says. "I want to be the person you always told me I could be."_

_The next morning, Oliver exits the manor and is stopped by Moira approaching him. "Oliver, I want to introduce you to someone." Oliver stops and she gestures to an African-American man in a suit, standing at parade rest. "This is John Diggle. He'll be accompanying you from now on."  
_

"Considering Oliver's actions so far, I doubt he will react to this overly well, Moira," Malcolm said.

Moira glanced over at Malcolm coolly and said, "Yet as I do not know of his true actions, I would be acting as I thought best."

_Oliver, looking a little peeved, replies, "I don't need a babysitter."  
_

_Walter, standing near Moira, puts a hand on her arm and says, "Darling, Oliver's a grown man. And if he doesn't feel he needs armed protection" _

_Moira nods, saying, "I understand, but this is something I need." Oliver nods.  
_

_In the car, Oliver is in the backseat as he and Diggle drive through Starling City. "So, what do I call you?" _

"_Diggle's good. Dig if you want."  
_

"_You're ex-military?"_

"_Yes, sir. 105__th__ Airborne of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than four years now. I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen.  
My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement? Sir?" The sound of the car door opening and closing. Diggle turns and sees an empty seat. _

Tommy snickered at this evasion. He was still trying to wrap his head around Oliver's new nature, but he found that there were still elements of his best friend he recognized. That was something the old Ollie would've done just for kicks.

"_Sir!" He steps on the breaks. He gets out to look around, finds no sign of Oliver. _

_Oliver walks through the Glades, a backback on one shoulder and carrying a duffelbag. He throws both over the fence of the steel mill and swings himself over moments later. He enters the steel mill. "The abduction was unexpected. It forced me to move up my plans, but what I told the police was true." Oliver has picked up a pamphlet with his father's image on it. "The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse, and he's just beginning." _

"Ah," Malcolm said to himself.

"Justice. Right," Quentin snorted. "More like vengeance."

"Sometimes the two are not dissimilar, Detective Lance," Malcolm said softly. "Especially for the more well-connected criminals." Malcolm nodded to the screen, and their attention turned back there.

_Oliver sets up the lair, forges arrows, and makes sure his aim is still true before beginning to research Adam Hunt, using the Internet and news footage. "Adam Hunt; his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way. He hasn't met me yet." Oliver opens the box from the Island and pulls out the green hood and the bow.  
_

Malcolm made a mental checklist of everything he had found out about the new Oliver Queen that would be returning to Starling. Slade, meanwhile, found himself feeling. . . . satisfied that Oliver had grown up. Still, this was not enough to make up for what he had done.

_In a parking structure, Hunt is with two bodyguards and his attorney. "You remind Grell, I put him on the bench, I can take him off. I will turn him into a cautionary tale."_

"Scum," Malcolm spat out. __

"Yes, Mr. Hunt," the lawyer replies.  


"_And this attorney Laurel Lance?" Hunt continues, looking at the man briefly. _

At the mention of Laurel's name, Quentin's head swiveled to focus on Hunt only and he narrowed his eyes. _You just try and hurt my daughter, you piece of shit,_ Quentin thought. _I might just let Queen have you._

"_You said she wasn't gonna be a problem anymore. I told you to fix that situation. Why are you still here?" The lawyer leaves. _

_A moment later, the whistling of an arrow is followed by one of the lights shattering. Another arrow whistles, and one of the bodyguards goes down with a cry. The other grabs Hunt and pushes him towards the car. "Get in the car!"_

_Hunt does as the man tells him while the bodyguard fires his weapon in the direction of the shattered light. "Hey," Oliver says from behind the man, who turns. "You missed." _

_Inside the car, Hunt can hear arrows firing and his bodyguard crying out. The next moment, he is pulled from the car. "What? What?" He cries out as he sees Oliver, in Hood gear, atop the car, arrow readied in the bow and pointed at him. "Just, just tell me what you want."  
_

_Oliver jumps off the car and grabs Hunt, dragging him to his feet. "You're gonna transfer $40 million into Starling City bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night," Oliver tells him.  
_

"_Or what?" Hunt asks with faux-bravado. _

"_Or I'm gonna take it, and you won't like how," Oliver replies, before turning and beginning to leave.  
_

_Hunt, gaining mild courage at Oliver's departure, yells, "If I see you again, you're dead!" Oliver turns and fires another arrow, which goes through the back window of Hunt's car. _

Malcolm sighed. He had hoped for something a little more original. But it appeared Oliver was going for the simple threats of 'or else'. Well, it appeared Oliver had no idea of the Undertaking's existence; he was focused on the List as a target group. Malcolm would let the younger man play at hero until the Undertaking was complete and those that were poisoning the city removed from the map. Perhaps he would even help him on occasion, ensure he was considered an ally rather than an enemy.

Slade frowned. He had seen the notebook with the Kid before, but never asked him about it. Clearly, something had happened after their parting of ways that had led the Kid to become this vigilante.

Sebastian hoped that whatever Oliver Queen intended to do with that money, it would help the people of the Glades.

_The next day, Hunt is in his office, speaking with Quentin and Hilton. "He was wearing a hood, a green hood, and he had a bow and arrow." Quentin and Hilton exchange looks and Hunt notices. "What, you don't believe me? That maniac put two of my men in the hospital." He hands an arrow over to the detectives.  
_

_Quentin, examining the arrow, says, "Well, thanks for your statement. We'll put out an APB on. . . . Robin Hood?"  
_

"_Hey, pal," Hunt replies, tone gaining a hint of arrogance. "I'm not some grocer who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the he said he would be back here by 10 P.M. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with Mr. Drakon, my new head of security." Hunt points to the man, who Hilton and Quentin look at.  
_

"_All right," says Hilton before they leave, Quentin muttering, "Well, uh, thanks for your time," as they do so.  
_

_As they get in the elevator, Hilton says, "It looks like Queen was telling the truth."  
"Yeah," Quentin replies. "Well, there's a first time for everything. This hooded guy comes looking for trouble, he'll find it."  
_

_At the Queen Mansion that evening, Oliver gets in the car to find Diggle already in the backseat waiting for him. "Put on your seat belt, sir. Wouldn't want you to miss your party."  
_

_The party is in full swing as Oliver descends the stairs, loud music and yelling of excited partiers filling the air. Tommy comes up to where Oliver is standing on the steps and motions for the D.J. to stop the music before yelling out, "Everybody, hey! Man of the hour!" Cheers raise up as the two men reach the bottom of the stairs. "Whoo! And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming." Two women come up at Tommy's gesture, and Oliver takes each of them on his arm as 'We are the Champions' plays. He ascends the steps and yells out with enthusiasm, "Thank you very much, everybody!" _

_Tommy, a glass in hand, reaches up with it, saying, "Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie."  
Oliver takes the glass and downs it before yelling out, "I missed Tequila!" The party starts up again at that. _

_At Hunt's offices, bodyguards are prepping with automatic weapons and Mr. Drakon is looking out the window at the building across the street. Hunt comes up to him and demands to know, "What the hell's going on out there?" _

"_It's across the street," Drakon replies. "Party for the guy that got rescued off that island: Oliver Queen."  
_

Malcolm raised an eyebrow at that. Perhaps he had judged Oliver's tactic prematurely. He had tried his own attempt at intimidating scum not long after returning from Nanda Parbat, but it had resulted in minimal success, which was when he had gathered like minded individuals, like Robert and Frank, for the second Undertaking that had seen the creation of the List.

Slade nodded to himself. It was a worthy tactic, the sort of thing he himself would have done if the circumstances allowed for it. He suspected that, were he not aiming to take down Adam Hunt, Oliver would have refused to hold such a party unless it was to make others think he was still the useless playboy that Slade had first met and threatened to cut the throat of if he twitched.

_At the party, Tommy notices Diggle eying Oliver and says, "Hey. Does he wipe for you, too?" He takes Oliver by the arm and swings him to face a trio of dancing girls as he says, "Now by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days." Oliver grimaces slightly._

"What's that about?" Tommy asked aloud, confused.

Slade, looking amused, said, "If he was alone on the island as he tells everyone, who tortured him? Perhaps there were others who were friendly to him, and he got close to them." It was clear from the expressions of some of those present they had not considered that, though Slade being the one to say this had the suspicions of those involved in the viewing ratcheting up a notch.

"_As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden."  
_

"_Which one is she?" Oliver asks. _

"_The one who looks like the chick from Twilight."  
_

"_What's Twilight?"  
_

"_You're so better off not knowing."  
_

_Oliver notices Thea and her friends buying drugs, and narrows his eyes. _

"Big Brother Ollie back in action," Laurel said, smiling at the way Oliver was acting now. Gone was the partying frat-boy; she wasn't sure about his vigilantism, but unlike her father she saw the results of the failings in the justice system. She could at least sympathize with what Oliver was doing, even if she didn't agree with it.

Thea grumbled something nonsensical, but Moira was looking approving at her son's actions. Whatever had happened to Oliver, he was more responsible now and was trying to make sure his sister didn't screw up her life. That was something Moira could get behind. The vigilantism. . . not so much, especially if it meant him crossing swords with Malcolm, or worse, crossing bows literally with Malcolm's enforcer.

"_Back in a minute," he tells Tommy and goes to Thea.  
_

_Thea, looking happy, says, "Ollie, hey! This party is sick."  
_

"_Who let you in here?" Oliver asks. _

_Thea, looking startled, says, "I believe it was somebody who said, 'Right this way, Miss Queen'."  
_

"_Well, you shouldn't be here," Oliver replies.  
_

"_I'm not 12 anymore."  
_

"_No. You're 17."  
_

_Thea, looking a bit angry now, says, "Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you."  
_

"_I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was away-" _

"_Away? No. You died. My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals."  
_

"_I know."  
_

"_No, you don't," Thea replies, beginning to get more emotional. "Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys all act like its cool; let's forget about the last 5 years. Well, I can't. For me, it's kind of permanently in there, so I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, but this me is the best I could do with what I had to work with." Thea turns to her friends. "Let's bounce."  
_

_As Thea and her friends move away, one of them asks, "You have the fun dip?" _

"_Yeah," Thea replies. "It's right. . . ." She doesn't find it in her purse. "No. I-I must have dropped it." Several feet away, Oliver is throwing the drugs in the trashcan and looks up to see Diggle, who gives an approving sort of look. _

"Good," Moira said softly. Thea scowled. _  
_

_Oliver turns and runs into Laurel. "Oh! Oh."  
_

"_You're here," Oliver says, looking surprised.  
_

"_Tommy," Laurel says. "He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them." Laurel looks around. "Is there someplace quieter that we could go?" _

"_Yeah," Oliver says, and the two walk away. Tommy watches them go.  
_

_Now away from the party, Laurel turns to Oliver and says, "I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died. That was wrong."  
_

"_If I could trade places with her, I would," Oliver tells her.  
_

"_About Sara," Laurel says. "There's something that I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know."  
_

"_Okay."  
_

"_When she died. . . . Did she suffer?" _

_Oliver has another flashback of Sara being sucked out of the Gambit before he says, "No."_

"I wish I could believe that lie now," Laurel said to herself. Her father overheard and kissed the side of her head to show he felt the same way. _  
_

"_I think about her every day."  
_

"_Me, too."  
_

"_I guess we still have one thing in common then," Laurel says. She waits a moment, then, almost hesitantly, continues, "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but If you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here." Oliver's phone buzzes. He looks at it to see it is now 10 P.M. and Hunt has not transferred the funds. Laurel notices the change in his demeanor. "Something wrong?" _

"_I asked somebody to do something," Oliver says. "They didn't do it." He smiles at her. "Laurel." A moment later, his expression changes, as though he's preparing to do something. "You always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me, and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It didn't. Stay away from me." He begins stepping away from her, moving backwards. "Otherwise I'm just gonna hurt you again, but this time, it will be worse." He changes to show a flippant playboy. "Gotta roll. I got 5 years of debauchery to catch up on!" _

_Laurel, looking disappointed, says, "You know what, Oliver? You're wrong. That island did change you. At least now you're honest."  
_

"Oh, God, how could I not realize he was lying to me?" Laurel groaned. "He was so _obvious_ about it."

"Perhaps you have a blind spot where Mr. Queen is concerned," Slade replied, knowing the Kid certainly had one where either of the Lance girls was concerned.

"That was quite profound, and astute, Mr. Wilson," Moira said, looking at the one-eyed Australian curiously. "Though I still wonder as to why you are here. Though based on what our hosts have said, that everyone here had something to do with the man that we can now presume is my son, I suspect we'll find out soon enough."

"I am sure all will be revealed in time. I am curious to see how it plays out," Slade replied before signaling Laurel to begin the playback again.

_Laurel walks away, and Oliver watches her go. _

_Oliver, now in the kitchens, is walking to get away from the party and finds Diggle waiting. "Something I can help you with, sir?" _

"_I just wanted a second to myself," Oliver says.  
_

_Diggle says, "I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap." He points to the door near him. "Party's this way." _

_Oliver tries the door. "It's locked." Diggle moves to open the door himself. Oliver puts him in a headlock and uses it to knock him out.  
_

_In Hunt's office, Drakon is speaking with his men. "You two cover the elevator." He points to other men as the two mentioned move to do as he says. "Hang back and be ready. Stay in the corners and stay alert."  
_

_Drakon walks up to Hunt, who's standing by the window looking down at the party. "It's past 10:00. He's never getting in here." Outside, unseen by the two men at the window, an arrow with a zip-line attached burrows itself into the side of the building.  
_

_Down on the ground, the two detectives are looking around, and speak to one another. "All's clear."  
_

"_Yeah."  
_

_In the building, the lights go out. In the hallway outside Hunt's office, the elevator dings. The men in the hall open fire, bullets punching through the elevator doors and peppering the wall surrounding the elevator. The door opens to reveal. . . . nothing. The men all look at one another. In that moment, Oliver attacks, bringing the men down with ruthless efficiency. _

_In the office, the firing of weapons and cries of pain can be heard. Drakon and a couple men ready their weapons as Hunt takes cover. A man smashes through the glass door and Drakon's men open fire, only to realize it's one of their own. Two arrows soar in, killing Drakon's men. Oliver enters, avoiding Drakon's fire and knocks the man out before firing an arrow past Hunt, who looks at it then turns to face Oliver. "You missed."  
_

"_Really?" Oliver replies, before he is attacked by Drakon. _

Malcolm smiled. Clearly, Oliver had a different plan than he had had. If Oliver was focused on dealing with men like Hunt, then Malcolm's Undertaking could move forward unopposed. Of course, Malcolm suspected those here would find out about the Undertaking anyways. He could always pretend to decide against it after giving a credible performance. . . .

_Hunt runs out of the room as the two men fight, yelling into a walkie, "He's here!" _

_Down on the ground, Quentin and his men move in. "All units, converge! All units, converge!" _

_In the office, Oliver fights with Drakon. He takes a running leap to get behind the desk, turning and throwing an arrow at Drakon as the man fires at Oliver. Oliver hits the ground and lays still after a grunt of pain. Outside the office, the police arrive and move forward. Drakon can be seen lying on the ground with the arrow through his chest. _

_Oliver wakes up, and notices the police closing in. He fires a couple arrows past them without hitting any of them. The police stop to take cover. "Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire! I repeat, lay down your weapons."  
_

_Oliver ignores the order and heads for the window. The police open fire, and Oliver dives out the window. Quentin and Hilton rush to the window in time to see Oliver zip-line down to the building across the street. "Tell me you saw that," Hilton says.  
_

_Across the street, the police arrive. "Ok. Let's go. Move." Quentin reaches the DJ. "Cut it." The music stops as Quentin begins giving orders again. "Search the building roof to basement. Find him!" Quentin turns to the crowd at large. "Starling City police! The party's over, kids." Groans and insults can be heard as Quentin comes face-to-face with Tommy. "Oh, Mr. Merlyn." Tommy smiles at the man cockily. "Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?" _

_Oliver comes from out of the crowd and said, "Detective! This is a private party."  
_

"_Yeah? Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" _

"_Who's Adam Hunt?" Oliver asks. _

"_He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends."  
_

"_I've been out of town for. . . . a while," Oliver says, and Tommy turns from listening to Oliver to smile the same cocky smile at Quentin.  
_

_Quentin, scowling, says, "Yeah. Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day."  
_

"_The hood guy? You didn't find him? I'm gonna offer a reward." Oliver turns to the crowd at large and yells out, "Hey, everybody. 2 million dollars to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood." Cheers erupt as Oliver turns back to Quentin.  
As the cheers and party begin around them again, Quentin closes the distance between he and Oliver. "Did you even try to save her?" Hilton begins to try and pull Quentin away from the confrontation. "Did you even try to save my daughter?" _

"_Sarah wouldn't want this," Hilton says, continuing to pull Quentin away with words of warning. Qunetin reluctantly follows. _

_Oliver gets up on stage. "It's way too quiet in here! This is a party!" The party gets back in full swing as Oliver steps down from the stage. _

_Tommy, drink in hand, comes up. "Some coincidence, I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse."  
_

_Oliver, smiling but his tone close to threatening, says, "If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive."_

Malcolm twitched slightly. Regardless of his decision to not harm Oliver, if he moved against Tommy. . . . well, he would simply have to 'clean house' at the Queen Mansion with his assassin's gear. _  
_

_Tommy, looking startled, says, "What happened to you on that island?" _

"_A lot."_

_The next day, at Hunt's office, repairmen are working on the window while Hunt is shouting on the phone. "What the hell are you talking about? $40 million doesn't just up and vanish! Untraceable?! It is $40 million! Find it!" Hunt throws the phone on the desk and sits in his chair. "How did he do it?" Sticking out of the wall is Oliver's arrow, which has a wireless transmitter on it. _

"That's an interesting way of handling it," Malcolm mused. "I can't help but think it couldn't happen to a better person."

"For once, we're in agreement, Merlyn," Quentin said, looking sour.

_In Oliver's lair, Oliver is watching as the funds are transferred into various accounts. He opens the notebook with the List in it and crosses off Adam Hunt's name. _

_In a flashback to the raft, the crewman is dozing while Robert speaks quietly with Oliver. "There's not enough for all of us," Robert says. "Save your strength. You can survive this, make it home, make it better, right my wrongs; but you got to live through this first. You hear me, Ollie? You hear me, son?" _

"Oh, Robert, you _didn't_," Moira said softly. Malcolm closed his eyes as well. Robert had placed the burden on Oliver's shoulders. Malcolm could never imagine trying to force Tommy to take on his mantle, whether as CEO of Merlyn Global or as the Dark Archer, as some had begun to call him, unless he was ready. Oliver had not been ready, though whatever happened on the Island changed that.

Slade eyed the man that had been Oliver's father with interest. So, this was the beginning of the man that Oliver had become, the man Slade had had a part in forging.

"_Just rest, dad," Oliver says, eyelids fluttering.  
_

_Robert seems to come to a decision as shifts Oliver away from him. "No." He pulls a pistol out of his life vest and kills the crewman, startling Oliver, who scrambles to the other side of the life raft.  
_

"_Dad?!" _

_Robert looks at his son. "Survive," he says, before placing the pistol against his head and firing. _

Moira turned away, forcing her daughter to look away as well even as Thea let out a sob at finally learning Robert's ultimate fate. Malcolm sighed, and realized that it seemed Robert had never told Oliver everything. He met Moira's eyes and shook his head, showing that he would not move against Oliver so long as Oliver didn't move against him. Moira nodded ever so slightly, thanking Malcolm with her eyes. Slade noticed this exchange and made a note of it. _  
_

"_No!" _

_At CNRI, Laurel is speaking with a client on the phone. "If, hypothetically, 50 thousand dollars magically appeared in your bank account, it might be best for you not to speak about it. To anyone. Ever." Laurel smiles at the reply and says, "God bless you, too."  
_

_Joanna comes up to Laurel's cubicle and says, "I just got a very grateful phone call from one of our clients against Adam Hunt."  
_

"_Me, too," Laurel says, before letting out an amazed, "Heh."  
_

"_It looks like Starling City has a guardian angel," Joanna says, before turning to look away from her. She turns back to Laurel. "By the way, your cute friend's here." Laurel, frowning, stands and looks towards where Joanna gestures, and sees Tommy smiling at her.  
_

_The two are walking down an alleyway. "You left the party pretty quick last night," Tommy says, "even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir."  
_

"_It wasn't really my scene," Laurel says.  
_

"_I thought maybe you and Oliver went mano-a-mano again. I saw you two head out," Tommy replies, a hint of jealousy in his wording.  
_

"_There's nothing between Oliver and I, not anymore," Laurel assures him.  
_

_Tommy gets Laurel to look at him and says, "Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us."  
_

_Laurel turns to Tommy and says, "I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an "us," Tommy."  
_

"_Then what would you call it?" _

"_A lapse."  
_

"_That's quite a few lapses your place, my place, my place again." Tommy grins.  
_

_Laurel says fondly, "Oh, come on, Merlyn. We both know that you're not a one-girl type of guy."  
_

"_Depends on the girl," Tommy says, giving Laurel a look.  
_

"_I have to go back to work," Laurel says, beginning to walk away.  
_

"_Dinah Laurel Lance, always trying to save the world," Tommy says, still grinning.  
_

"_Hey," Laurel says, turning for a moment. "If I don't try and save it, who will?" Laurel continues walking away. Above them, Oliver is crouching in his Hood gear. _

"_She says the island changed me. She has no idea how much." A flashback to the raft, with the island now in sight as Oliver stares towards it. "There are many more names on the List, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island."  
_

Laurel felt a surge of. . . . something rise up in her at Oliver's conviction to right the wrongs of Starling City, to help the people of the Glades. The Oliver Queen she had dated had been callous, drunk, and an all around 'bad boy'; but she had always thought there was more to him than that. Whatever the island had done, it had made him into a better person. Or perhaps revealed what he had always been.

Slade leaned back in his seat, eying the image thoughtfully. _So it begins,_ he thought to himself.

_The back of a familiar mansion is shown as a man descends the stairs. "The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver, and they never will. Should we arrange another abduction?" _

_Moira turns to face the grounds and says, "No. There are other ways of finding out what my son knows."_

"It was you?" Thea asked, stunned. Tommy looked likewise betrayed. Moira had become like a surrogate mother to him after his own had died in the Glades. "You had Oliver kidnapped and questioned like that?" Quentin was watching Moira closely, as was Slade. The one-eyed Australian had just bumped Moira Queen up a few notches in his appraisal of her. This was no arm-candy wife of a billionaire; she could be just as ruthless as any mercenary, it seemed.

Moira said, "There are things in motion that you don't understand, Thea. If I had not done what I did, _others_ might have. Whether Oliver or Tommy escaped would be up in the air. I can assure you that I had made sure the men knew to let them go afterward."

Thea shook her head and glanced around the room. Laurel knew what she was looking for and nudged her father, who looked at her for a moment. There was a moment of irritation before Quentin sighed and said, "Thea, come over and sit with Laurel and Merlyn Jr." Quentin turned and eyed said Merlyn. "Try something with either of them, I break your hands." Tommy gulped at the threat and nodded rapidly.

Moira reluctantly let Thea go, feeling horrible. She hoped Thea could forgive her; but then, she wasn't sure she would forgive herself.


	3. Chapter 3: Honor Thy Father

_**Chapter Changes: Blood doesn't say much in this one, and is hardly even mentioned. Slade dialogue expanded, and he gets some introspective moments. **_

Chapter Three:

Honor Thy Father

After Thea had taken her seat with Laurel and Tommy, Quentin had begun walking to take Thea's place when he stopped, frowning. "Dad?" Laurel asked.

"She had her own son kidnapped and questioned," Quentin said gruffly. "And she's not showing a sign of remorse, claiming 'others' as the reason she did that. She's either schizophrenic or just a sociopath. I'm not sitting near her." He glanced at the three other men in the room (Merlyn Jr. didn't count at all) and said, "Mr. Wilson, I hate to impose, but Merlyn Sr. isn't about to sit calmly next to the woman who had his son kidnapped." He wasn't about to ask a city alderman to sit by a sociopath.

Slade raised an eyebrow and said, "Detective, I would no sooner take a seat by Mrs. Queen for those very reasons than I would kill my own son."

Malcolm sighed and said, "I will take the seat by Moira, Detective Lance, as you feel so uncomfortable about sitting next to Moira. We'll ignore the fact that if you had the chance when Oliver was dating Laurel, you'd have done the same to him." Quentin sputtered as Malcolm stood and walked passed him, taking a seat on the loveseat with Moira. Tommy was staring at his father as though he wasn't sure what the hell was going on, Thea was looking at the two suspiciously as she remembered the way Malcolm had come by so often after her Dad and brother went missing.

At a nod from her father as he settled into the armchair recently vacated by Malcolm, Laurel began the next 'bio-drama' sequence, as she had begun calling them in her head.

_Oliver, in Hood gear, is standing on a rooftop, the sound of a chopper moving away. "Who's that? Where'd he come from? What's going on here?" Men move forward and engage Oliver, who fights them off with martial arts and fires a few arrows. "Get the chopper back now. Who's is guy?"_

_Oliver fights through the final two men and approaches his target, Marrcus Redman._

Quentin grimaced. _I will not admit he's doing something the SCPD can't,_ he thought to himself even as he recognized that Queen was doing a good job at intimidating the scum.

"_Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait!" Oliver grabs the man and throws him over the side onto a lower portion of the roof. Redman impacts with an air conditioning unit, the grill of which Oliver destroys. "No, please. . ." _

_Oliver puts the man's face close to the cycling fans. "Marcus Redman, you failed this city."  
_

"_Please, don't! Please! Don't!" _

"_Cell phone, inside pocket, call your partner. Tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it now."_

"_Okay." Oliver lets the man go and walks away. _

_Shifting to him entering the manor the next morning, approaching his family who are watching the news report. "Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon Pension Plan has always been his intent." An image of the sketch drawing of Oliver's Hood persona pops up on the screen. "But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante." _

"Intimidation. . . . feared respect. . . . he's finally learned," Slade murmured to himself. No one could hear precisely what the Australian had said, and his reticence to speak had already made clear he would allow whatever connection he had to Oliver, if any, to come out in it's own time. But Moira vowed to herself if Wilson knew where her son had been all this time and had let him rot on that island. . . . she would burn his world to ashes. _  
_

_Oliver gestures to the screen. "This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians." _

"_Five years on an island and you still know who they are," Thea replies.  
_

"_I've been catching up," Oliver replies. "It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away." There's just the tiniest hint of sarcasm in this reply.  
_

Laurel coughed to hide a laugh even as Tommy openly smirked at that. Even Thea had to laugh a little at that, as it distracted her from her suspicions about her mother and Mr. Merlyn.

"_But the city used to be different. People used to feel safe," Moira points out from where she's sitting.  
_

"_Aw, what's the matter, mom?" Thea asks turning to look at Moira. "Afraid we're gonna be next?" _

_Walter turns to Oliver and asks, "Do you have any questions about today, Oliver? It's a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided."  
_

"_It's fine, Walter, I've been in a courtroom before," Oliver says, as Tommy comes up behind him. _

_"Four times by my estimate," Tommy adds helpfully. "You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?" _

Quentin glared at Merlyn Jr., as he had been the cop in question (not that either Merlyn nor Queen recognized him at the time, being shit-faced). Laurel coughed to cover up a laugh again.

"_I wish everyone would," Moira replies, somewhat stiffly. _

"_I'd hang, but we're headed to court," Oliver tells Tommy.  
_

"_I know, that's why I'm here. My best friend is getting legally resurrected, I wouldn't miss this for the world." _

"_Right. Okay." Oliver turns to Thea. "What about you?" _

_Thea walks by with a bit of a snooty attitude likely left over from their interactions thus far. "Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me."  
_

"_Fair enough," Oliver says as Thea walks away.  
_

_Diggle enters. "Mrs. Queen? Car's ready."_

At the courthouse, Oliver is swarmed by reporters. "Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank? Are you going to talk about the boat crash? Mr. Queen, did you see Sara Lance die?" 

Quentin flinched at the mention of his youngest.

_A flashback intercedes as Oliver's testimony unfolds. "There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor. My father didn't make it. I almost died, I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw the island. When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going."  
_

_The lawyer says, "Your honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's gamut five years ago. Unfortunately we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid."  
_

_Outside the courtroom, Moira says, "Now, onto the offices. Everyone is waiting to meet you there."  
_

Malcolm raised an eyebrow as he turned to face Moira. "Moira, I may not be much of a father, but you know that something happened to Oliver on the Island thanks to his scars, even if he won't talk about it. Combine that with what he has just had to do, and I can't fathom why you would try to get him to go to Queen Consolidated." The unspoken "_and as far away from the Undertaking as possible_," ran in Moira's mind as she glanced away, feeling guilty but also angry. Who was _Malcolm Merlyn_ to tell her how to be a good parent?

On the sofa, a pair of unknown siblings were watching their parents with not only suspicion but a bit of trepidation. Thea was primarily suspicious that her belief that her mother and Mr. Merlyn had slept together before Moira got together with Walter was a little more accurate than she had imagined. Tommy, meanwhile, was trying to figure out what his father was up to. Did he have the hots for Mrs. Queen but never acted on it? Or had he, and the reason he was defending Oliver so much as of late was because he was beginning to suspect. . . . Tommy shook his head fiercly, trying to get rid of the thought, but it still nagged at him. What if Oliver was his brother, and Malcolm was seeing Oliver's esoteric fighting skills as something to bond over?

_Oliver stops on the stairs and says, "Uh, Mom, that was a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?" _

_Moira looks at Walter for a moment before turning back and saying, "Of course."  
_

"_Thank you."  
_

_As Oliver and Tommy part ways with Moira and Walter, Tommy says, "Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company."  
_

"_Tommy, I'd just spent five years away from civilization. I wasn't exactly thinking straight." The two of them run into Laurel, Joanna, and their new client. "I. . . hi."  
_

"_What are you doing here?" Laurel asks. _

"_Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking. What are you doing here?" _

"_My job."  
_

"_Right."_

Thea coughed something that sounded an awful lot like 'flirting'. Tommy frowned and Laurel flushed. _  
_

_Joanna cuts in. "More like the D.A.'s."  
_

_Oliver shakes Joanna's hand then does the same with the new client. "Hi, Oliver Queen."  
_

"_Emily Nocenti."  
_

_Laurel turns to Emily and says, "Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister. He was with her when she last week, he told me to stay away from him." She gives Oliver a Look. "It was really good advice." She moves past Tommy and Oliver with an, "Excuse me."  
_

Again, Thea coughed, this time the word sounded like, "_Denial._"

Laurel turned to her and asked sweetly, "Do you need a cough drop?" Thea merely smiled at Laurel innocently, and again Malcolm was struck by the similarity to Tommy's smile. He vowed to speak with Moira privately as soon as possible.

"_It was nice to meet you," Oliver says to Emily.  
_

"_Yeah."  
_

"_Come on, buddy, shake it off. Let's go."  
_

_Outside the reporters are circling Martin Somers. "Mr. Somers! Mr. Somers! What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?" _

"_I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Ms. Lance and her bosses at the CNRI. But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Somers walks away.  
_

_The vultures spot Oliver. "Oh, there's Mr. Queen. Mr. Queen, do you want to follow up? What happened in there, sir? Tell us what happened inside, Mr.  
Queen. _

"_Step back everybody, please." The reporters ignore Diggle, continuing to pepper Oliver with questions as Oliver gets into the car. "Everybody, step back." One of the reporters shoves a camera in Diggle's face. "Hey man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!" As Tommy and Diggle move to get in, the car screeches away. _

"_This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" Tommy asks Diggle, who's looking a little peeved to say the least. _

_In the courtroom, Laurel is presenting her opening arguments. "How much is a life worth? A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. A father. A man with a daughter. The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there, Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed." The death of Victor Nocenti is shown. _

Malcolm grimaced. He recognized the assassin as China White. She had been active a few times in Starling City, but their paths had never crossed. He had wondered, on occasion, how that would go.

"_Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them."  
_

_Oliver is in his lair, researching Somers. "Martin Somers. Laurel's targeted the worst of Starling City, so it's no surprise his name is on my father's list. The city's police and the D.A. can't stop him; or won't. Laurel thinks she's the only one willing to bring him to justice. She's wrong."  
_

_Somers is on the phone. "You, listen up. The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" Somers is knocked out. When he wakes up, he's hanging upside down. "What the hell?" _

"_Martin Somers!" Oliver is standing several feet in front of Somers._

"_Who the hell are you?" _

"_You've failed this city," Oliver says, and preps an arrow.  
_

_Somers holds his hands out in front of him. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" _

"_You're gonna testify in that trial," Oliver tells him. "You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't be a second warning." Oliver lets loose the arrow, which cuts Somers' cheek as it passes. He screams and when he looks up again, Oliver has vanished.  
_

"Jesus," Quentin muttered under his breath. "Does Queen even know the difference between justice and some twisted vengeance?"

Malcolm heard this, and despite his preference to not appear more than a businessman, he felt the need to speak up and defend Oliver; he had, after all, been trained by the League of Assassins and attempted to use those abilities in his original attempt to bring the Glades back from the brink of hell; he, of all people, could appreciate that Oliver was using what he had been taught on the Island to bring those deserving of it down. "Tell me, Detective Lance, what would you do in Oliver's situation?"

Quentin looked over at the man, eyes narrowed. "I believe in the law, Merlyn. You throw out the law, and all that's left is anarchy."

Malcolm smirked in amusement as he said, "And yet, Oliver is doing a better job than your police department in getting justice for the down-trodden."

Quentin scowled, but the exchange had had an affect on the others. Thea was the one brave enough to ask the question, or perhaps she didn't have a sense of self-preservation. "Why are you defending what Oliver is doing? What he is now? I love my brother, but what he's doing. . . . it's wrong!"

Malcolm, despite himself, smiled at the girl. "Ah, to be young and full of hope," he murmured. "I hope you never lose that purity of spirit, Thea. But Oliver and I share a certain belief system. Oliver Queen is not the first man with a preference for the esoteric arts to try and bring down criminals outside the law." His secrets were likely to come out, but it was best to prepare them by giving them something they could grasp.

It only took a moment for those in the room to catch on. Tommy was the one who voiced it. "After Mom died. . . that was where you went. You found someone who trained you, who helped you become like Oliver is," he said, eyes wide. "You're a _killer_."

"I am what I need to be, when I need to be," Malcolm said softly. He nodded to Laurel, who was looking stunned between the two Merlyns. Slade Wilson watched the man he had thought a businessman carefully now. So, Merlyn Sr. was a man after his (and apparently Oliver's) own heart. This bore consideration, particularly if Malcolm Merlyn chose to ally with Oliver against Slade, at least if Slade continued on his current path.

Elsewhere in the station, a message was sent to Oliver Queen that Merlyn had just revealed part of his story. They knew that it meant that Malcolm could and would defend himself if threatened.

_At the Queen Mansion, Moira is speaking with Diggle. "I hired you to protect my son. Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect."  
_

_Diggle, with a neutral expression despite the lambasting he's received, says, "With all due respect, ma'am, I never had a client who didn't want my protection."  
_

"_I hired you," Moira replies stiffly. "That makes me the client. Now where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?" _

"_Ma'am, I truly do not know."  
_

"_And he truly doesn't," Oliver says, a little too happily, as he enters.  
_

_Moira gives her son a Look as she replies, "Then perhaps you'd like to share with me where it is you run off to."  
_

"_I've been alone for five years."  
_

"_I know that, Oliver-"  
_

"_Mom," Oliver says, giving her a significant look. "Alone."_

Laurel shook her head. "Of course he'd use sleeping with some cheap girl as a cover for his actual nightly activities. Everyone expects him to be the same playboy he always was." Tommy nodded, looking a little bit unhappy. Most thought it was because Laurel was denouncing his own lifestyle, but a few of the more adept at reading people (Quentin, Slade, and Malcolm) knew it was because he wanted a chance with Laurel and she was clearly falling for Oliver's new personality; something Quentin was most decidedly not happy about. _What does she see in these guys?_ He thought to himself. _  
_

_Moira looks disappointed as she says, "I see."  
_

"_I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage." _

"_No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous. It's not safe, you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy."  
_

"_That maniac saved my life," Oliver replies, as he can't exactly say he's said maniac.  
_

"_This isn't a game. I lost you once. And I am not going through that again."  
_

_Oliver softens and says, "Okay. Digg's my guy."  
_

"_Thank you." Moira leaves the two men alone.  
_

_Oliver turns to Diggle. "Sorry to give you so much grief."  
_

"_I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief. But I tell you what. You ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me."  
_

_As Oliver and Diggle enter the main foyer of the Queen Mansion, Thea can be seen leavin. "Where you going?" Oliver asks. _

"_Uh somewhere loud and smoky," Thea replies. Then, with a bit of a bratty attitude, "And don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, because I'm gonna go get drunk instead."_

Laurel shook her head and said, "Thea, Oliver is trying to look out for you. He's learned from his mistakes. What's it going to take for you to do the same? Even Tommy is _starting_ to finally grow up." Here, Laurel glanced at the younger Merlyn. "_Somewhat_." Tommy's expression was a mixture between pleased and confused. _  
_

_Oliver, looking disapproving, says, "Thea, do you think this is what dad would want for you?" _

_Thea gives her brother a glare. "Dead people don't want anything. It's one of the benefits of being dead."  
_

_Oliver looks at her with a heavy expression. "I was dead. And I wanted a lot."  
_

"_Except for your family," Thea says. "You've been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, and judge me. Don't wait up."  
_

_At the docks, Quentin is speaking with Somers. "Well, I owe you an apology, Mr.  
Somers. We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all."  
_

"_Which is exactly what I've been saying," Somers replies.  
_

"_Yeah," Quentin replies. "So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow I guess well, was that a practical joke?" _

_Somers, giving a somewhat mocking look, says, "These guys like to fool around."  
_

"_Yeah," Quentin says, drawing the word out before saying, "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." An officer brings one of Oliver's arrows to him. _

"_You see, there's this vigilante running around," Quentin says, using the arrow as a sort of 'pointer'. "He thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood. He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know, I don't know. But the point is, the man's a killer. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down.  
But like you said. . ." Quentin puts the arrow into the small crevice of where an arrow had been buried in the desk. "Hmm! Clearly, nothing happened here last night."  
_

Most of the room reacted to this with humor, but Malcolm considered the fact that Quentin Lance was very capable as a detective. He knew from the interactions the Queens, Merlyns, and Lances had had prior to the sinking of the _Gambit_ that the man could spot patterns very quickly if given a trail of bread crumbs. He vowed to make sure there was no evidence that could lead the man to the Undertaking, and to ensure any evidence he did find led to its abandonment.

"_Isn't this a conflict of interest, detective?" Somers asks. "After all, your daughter is suing me."  
_

"_I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check," Quentin replies.  
_

"_I'm not," Somers says, and stands to close the distance between he and Quentin. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional." Quentin looks at the man, his quick mind coming to a realization very fast._

Laurel groaned to herself as she realized what was coming her way in the future.

_The next day, at Queen Consolidated, Oliver is following Moira and Walter onto the top floor where the executive offices are located. "As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit," Walter says.  
_

_Oliver follows a beautiful employee with his eyes and says, "Hi."  
_

"_Are you enjoying yourself?" Moira says, holding onto Oliver with a smile at his actions. _

"_Yes, I am."  
_

"_I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy. You always were so excited," Walter says.  
_

"_Dad let me drink soda in the office."  
_

"_Ah! So that's why you enjoyed coming."  
_

_As they enter the CEO's office, Walter says, "Queen Consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification. We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy."  
_

"_That's neat," Oliver says before gesturing to the secretary outside, raising his voice as he calls out, "Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?" The woman begins walking away, apparently to do so. _

_Moira guides Oliver towards the more casual seats in the office. "Sweetheart, Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit."  
_

"_Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down," Oliver says.  
_

_Moira stops trying to guide him as Walter says, "The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name."  
_

"_Nice."  
_

"_And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication that you will be taking a leadership position in the company," Moira says.  
_

"_No," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Your-your company," Moira points out.  
_

"_No, I don't want to lead anything," Oliver says, before gesturing to Walter. "Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here."  
_

"_You said that you wanted to be a different person," Moira points out. "And you are Robert Queen's son."  
_

"_I don't need to be reminded of that," Oliver says heatedly.  
_

"_Well, obviously you do," Moira replies in kind. _

"_Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you," Walter interjects. _

"_Thank you, Walter," Oliver says, before turning his attention back to his mother. "Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father's CFO now sleeps down the hall from me?" _

Moira grimaced. Seeing the events from an objective perspective, she couldn't help but think she had handled all of these revelations poorly when it came to her son. Malcolm placed a hand on her shoulder, stirring Tommy and Thea's suspicions yet again.

_Moira sighs, hand moving about in irritation. "You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming. It is a lot less so now." She leaves. _

_Oliver exits the building with Diggle, who guides him through the starving vultures to the car. Once they're both inside, Diggle says, "The driver will be here in a minute."  
_

"_Okay," Oliver replies.  
_

_Diggle, adjusting his suit, says, "You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan. You want to know what I learned?" _

"_There's no place like home?" Oliver says, somewhat sarcastically. _

"_No, just the opposite," Diggle replies. "Home is a battlefield. Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." His tone and body language changes. "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be."  
_

_A brief flashback shows Oliver stumbling down the rocky shore of the island, shouting at the birds fluttering around the raft. "Hey! Hey, get away! Hey! Dad?" The birds are trying to 'scavenge' from Robert's body. "Hey! Hey, stay away from him!" _

Moira closed her eyes again as she tried to imagine how her son must have been feeling. No one, especially not Oliver, should have had to go through that. She was reminded, starkly, that while she had had no part in the sinking, the man sitting next to her had. She shifted away from him slightly, a movement that caught the attention of the entire room, though no comments or other signs of recognition were made. Those watching simply assumed that Moira was remembering Robert and thinking the fact that she and Malcolm were getting close was dishonoring Robert's memory.

_Back in the present, Laurel and Joanna are speaking with Emily Nocenti at CNRI. "Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck."  
_

"_This isn't about the money," Emily says, looking scandalized. "I just want justice for my father."_

"_Emily, there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people."  
_

"_My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat," Emily says, looking resolute. "They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up."  
_

"_Well let's hope it doesn't come to that," Laurel replies, even as her father walks up with some uniformed cops.  
_

"_And it won't."  
_

"_What's going on?" Laurel asks, a bit of defiance already present in her tone. _

Quentin groaned quietly while Thea and Tommy shifted their gaze to Laurel, both of them looking amused.

"_What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection." Quentin gestures around at the cops and the three women. "Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments." He points specifically at Laurel, who reacts as expected.  
_

"_I'm a lawyer. I live to argue."_

Tommy let out a snicker at that, and Quentin glared at him. _  
_

_Quentin steps close to Laurel, his face serious. "I'm your father. I live to keep you safe."  
_

_Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay?" _

"_Yes, why not do that?" Quentin says. "Thank you." He gestures to two of the cops. "Please, go with them. Stay there."  
_

_After Joanna and Emily have departed with their 'new friends', Laurel gives her father a glare. "Protective custody? I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys also. Didn't work then either."  
_

"_This isn't a joke, Laurel," Quentin says, looking serious. "Martin Somers got attacked last night."  
_

"_What?" Laurel replies, shocked. _

"_Yeah."  
_

"_By who?" _

"_It doesn't matter," Quentin says, clearly shifty. "Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion."  
"That might have worked when I was eight," Laurel replies, still stubborn. "But it's not gonna work anymore."  
_

"_End of discussion, Laurel!" Quentin cuts in. "You're insistent on doing your job, that's great. But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit." He steps closer to emphasize his point. "And you've made them angry."  
_

_At the docks, Martin Somers is meeting a Chinese woman with white hair (presumably dyed). "Thank you for coming," Somers says.  
_

"_Anything for a friend," China White replies. _

Moira felt a thrill of fear go through her. "Oh, no," she muttered softly.

"What is it, Moira?" Malcolm asked.

"Oliver's going to go up against her, I can feel it," Moira replied softly. At this, Malcolm's interest was piqued. Considering he and Oliver's similar training, that could give him insight into how a fight between China White and himself would go. _  
_

"_We're not friends," Somers points out. "You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port."  
_

"_For which you're paid a lot of money," China White says.  
_

"_I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me," Somers says, pointing at the cut on his cheek. "You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was."  
_

"_Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem," China White points out. "Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her."  
_

"_Don't be an idiot," Somers scowls. "You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire triad to the ground."  
_

_China White smiles and replies, "Then we kill Ms. Lance."  
_

Tommy's eyes widened as he shifted his gaze to Laurel, and despite Quentin's warning about 'making a move' on either of the girls, he placed a comforting hand on Laurel's shoulder. She needed it, she wasn't afraid to admit. It wasn't every day that she got a death threat that was a little more substantial than the common street thug.

_The local news affiliate is in the midst of the report as we see Oliver getting ready at the Queen Mansion. "Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available." _

_A close up of Oliver's scars and the dragon tattoo are shown before a view from the front is seen. The symbol of the Bratva is seen tattooed just under the left collar bone. _

Quentin waved at Laurel to pause the playback, and she did (with a bit of trepidation). He stood and moved closer, eyes narrowing in thought.

"Is there a problem, Detective Lance?" asked Malcolm. He thought the tattoo looked familiar, but couldn't recall precisely where or when he had seen it.

Quentin, after a few moments of silence, scoffed. "Says he's looking for justice, but he's one of them. Typical Oliver Queen. . ."

Laurel, looking agitated, demanded to know, "What is it, Dad?"

Quentin pointed at the tattoo and said, "That's the insignia of a captain in the Russian Bratva. You don't get to be one of those without some serious backing, and you don't get backing like that just because you're a rich playboy turned vigilante." Quentin took his seat, looking pleased that his views regarding Queen (that he was a dangerous menace and a criminal) were being validated.

The rest of the room were not so pleased, save perhaps one. Malcolm had many contacts thanks to his time in the League of Assassins, but the one organization he had never been able to gain a contact in was the Russian Bratva. That Oliver was not only in it, but also a captain, made Malcolm's conviction of approaching Oliver to offer an alliance even stronger; the Russians would be of use in the future, and having a captain as a contact, and one with a similar skillset to his own at that, well that just wasn't an opportunity that came along too often.

Moira was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her son, who had always been little more than partier, was not only coming back as a vigilante but was apparently a member of the Russian mob, and a high-ranked one at that (or so she would assume from the big deal Quentin had made about Oliver being a captain). She noted Malcolm's thoughtful expression and felt a jolt of dread shoot through her, knowing that Oliver had just made his way onto Malcolm's list of potentially useful contacts for their organization.

Thea didn't know much about the Russian bratva, but she did know it was supposed to be a major criminal group, a fact only made more certain by not only Detective Lance's actions, but also Laurel's reaction to the news. Laurel's expression was one of disbelief, anger, and confusion at the whole revelation. Tommy was looking likewise conflicted.

Slade suspected that Oliver had met up with that Russian he had helped rescue from Ivo again at some point after their parting of ways. He debated for a moment whether or not to speak up, but he had a feeling the Kid was nearby and would intervene if things got hairy. Slade decided silence was the best virtue and let them think what they would. If Oliver turned out to be shunned by those he cared for as a result, than it would keep to the promise Slade had made him. What was more despair-inducing than having those you care for consider you nothing more than a murderer, and the only one whom could relate to you was, apparently, the same as yourself and the man who trained you?

_As he puts on a shirt, Thea enters. "Wait, how did you get those?" Thea says, staring. _

"_Don't you knock?" Oliver demands angrily, as he pulls the shirt over and tries to hurriedly button it. _

_Thea approaches him quickly and turns him to face her. "No, wait," she says, revealing the scars. "Mom said that there were scars, but I'm. . . . Oliver, what happened to you out there?" _

_Oliver replies stoically, "I don't want to talk about it," as he buttons his shirt.  
_

_Thea scoffs. "Of course you don't. You never want to talk to me about anything.  
Except for my social life." Thea begins walking away. _

"_Wait!" Oliver says, and she turns. "Where are you going?" _

"_Why should I tell you?" She replies. _

"_I'm sorry, Thea," Oliver says softly. "I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there. But I'm not ready yet. Okay?"  
_

_Thea softens and says, "Do you have a second?" _

"_Yeah."  
_

"_Good. I wanna show you something out back." In the back lawn, she leads him to the memorial stones for he and Robert. "Sometimes, when I felt. . . . whatever, I'd come here. About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet, so I'd come here. To talk to you. I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. . . ." _

Laurel leaned down to whisper in Thea's ear, "You can always come talk to me, too, Thea." Thea nodded at Laurel, a little grateful.

_Thea stops rambling and turns to face Oliver. "And then sometimes, I'd ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me. Now, here you are. And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead." She takes a deep breath and continues, "Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too. You gotta let me in, Ollie. You gotta let someone in."  
_

_Laurel is working on her laptop when a series of knocks draws her to the door. Looking cautious, she opens it up. Oliver's on the other side, looking a little nervous. "Hi. Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside."  
_

_Laurel gives Oliver a look and asks, "How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won't stay away from me? I- What are you doing here, Ollie?" _

"_My sister. . . . She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that it would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in," Oliver stumbles over the words a bit.  
_

"_So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away," Laurel replies skeptically.  
_

"_I did that to protect you," Oliver said. _

"Oh, he did not just say that," Laurel said, narrowing her eyes at the screen. Tommy couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he thought of what Laurel would do to Oliver if he tried that in their changed timeline when they got back. As much as he wanted to get a chance at getting together with Laurel. . . he doubted it would happen. But if he did in this future they were being shown, maybe, just maybe, he could find out if there was a chance.

"_And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you." After a moment, Laurel opens the door wider and allows Oliver to enter. "Thank you," he whispers before taking a look around. _

"_Wow. This place hasn't changed in five years."  
_

"_I haven't really had time to redecorate," Laurel replies defensively.  
_

"_I'm a jerk," Oliver says suddenly, and Laurel focuses on him as he continues, "Before the island, I was a jerk, and now, I'm just a. . . . I'm a damaged jerk."  
_

"_What's in the bag?" Laurel says, her expression soft. _

"_I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day," Oliver said, closing the gap between them. "I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you." He opens the bag and pulls out a carton of Rocky Road. "Eat ice cream."  
_

_The two are now eating ice cream. "This is as good as I remember," Oliver says. Laurel, perched on the couch, looks a bit amused. Oliver looks at her a moment then says, "My mother wants me to join the company." He meets her gaze, Laurel looking a bit surprised. "Yeah. Take my rightful place."_

"I can't exactly picture you as master of the universe," Laurel replies. 

Moira raised an eyebrow at the younger woman, who just met her gaze evenly. Moira's expression became thoughtful as she turned back to the screen. She had been unduly harsh on the younger woman in the past since she thought it better the girl not get her hopes up for her and Oliver, simply because Moira knew the kind of man her son had been and that he wouldn't have been a good fit. But the new Oliver. . . . perhaps Laurel could help him change from this killer he had become into something better. _  
_

_Oliver smiles slightly at her witty reply before saying, "You know, after five years, I have plans. I have things that I have to do. I can't do that if I'm. . . . I don't know. . . . attending board meetings and stockholder briefings."  
_

_Laurel, looking amused again, says, "Oliver?" _

"_Hmm?" He turns his attention to her._

"_You're an adult. You can say no," she replies, as though explaining one plus one equals two to an obstinate toddler.  
_

"_Oh, I tried. Didn't take," Oliver says ruefully.  
_

"_Well, then don't tell her; show her," Laurel suggests. "Be the person that you want her to see you as. Trust me. I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents."  
_

"_I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval."  
_

"_He blames himself more than he blames you."_

Quentin raised his eyebrows and looked at his daughter, who simply gave him one of those Looks that all women learn through genetic memory and he turned his attention back to the screen, though he began to think about whether or not Laurel was right about that. Did he blame himself more than Queen for Sara's death? _  
_

"_He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sarah were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you."  
_

_Oliver gives her a long look before saying, "I am sorry."  
_

"_You apologized already," she says.  
_

"_And it'll never be enough," Oliver replies with feeling.  
_

_A rustle of something hitting metal outside attracts Oliver's attention. "Did you hear that?" _

"_What?" As Laurel looks in the direction of the kitchen, Oliver grabs the kitchen knife on the table, left there for unknown reasons, without attracting attention. _

_He stands as he says, "There's someone on the fire escape." He stands and begins walking around. Laurel looks surprised, and he interrupted her startled exclamation with a, "Hey, come on. Come on!" They head for the door, which bursts open from the body of a police officer being thrown into it. _

Quentin felt as though an electrical shock had shot through him as he focused on the screen. His daughter was in danger. Not because of Queen this time. . . but because of the Triads. They'd have gone after Laurel regardless of Queen's alter ego, as much as Quentin would have loved to say otherwise.

_A Triad member enters and Oliver pulls Laurel away from danger as the Triad thug opens fire.  
_

_As the two enter another room, China White appears. As Oliver and Laurel back away, Oliver clearly prepping to fight the Triad assassin, the gunman cuts off their only escape route. A moment later, the gunman himself is shot as Diggle enters the scene. He fires at China White, who evades the gunfire before engaging Diggle in unarmed combat. When Diggle is knocked down, Oliver throws the kitchen knife across the room and interrupts China White's attack. The woman looks at him before turning and fleeing through the open window. Diggle retrieves his weapon and turns to the two. Laurel has ran into Oliver's arms. _

Quentin groaned quietly.

"_Are you hurt?" Diggle asks urgently._

"_No," Oliver replies.  
_

_Diggle apparently hasn't heard as he asks again, "Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?" _

"_No! No," Oliver replies, shaking his head to emphasize the word.  
_

"_This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard," Diggle replies with a bit of sarcasm.  
_

_Oliver checks Laurel and has her look at him as he says, "You okay?" She nods wordlessly. _

_Later, police are all over the apartment as Quentin enters. "Daddy!" Laurel goes to him. He hugs her as he says, "Oh, thank God. Thank God. Are you all right?" _

"_I'm okay," Laurel replies, still looking a bit shaky. "Those cops that you put on me. . . ." _

_Quentin shakes his head before saying, "They-" _

"_I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car," Diggle says softly.  
_

_Quentin moves around Laurel to shake Diggle's hand. "Mr. Diggle, thank you. Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want."  
_

"_I was just doing my job, sir."  
_

"_No, your job is protecting him," Quentin nods at Oliver, who he then approaches. "It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die. You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent."  
_

"_Dad!" _

"_No, Laurel-" _

"_It's okay. I understand."  
_

"_Yeah," Quentin half-sneers before turning and leaving with Laurel.  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Diggle is favoring his injured hand as Oliver passes by. Oliver tosses him an ice pack. "Here! I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it."  
_

_Diggle stands and says, "Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job. Besides, I think it should be you that I'm thanking."  
_

"_What for?" _

"_The knife."  
_

"_The knife," Oliver repeats, before looking at Diggle. "I got lucky."  
_

"Well, at least one thing hasn't changed about Oliver," Laurel said. "He's really bad at cover stories." Laurel had no idea that, in another room on the station, Barry Allen was laughing his ass off at the fact that Laurel recognized that, despite the fact that the version of her they were watching was being deliberately obtuse about Oliver's truthfulness.

"_That was a kitchen knife. It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room."  
_

"_Exactly," Oliver replies. "I got lucky."  
_

"_I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen, you understand me?" _

"_Yes."  
_

"_And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you are," Diggle says._

Malcolm narrowed his eyes. Oliver was being a little _too cavalier_ when it came to his secret with Mr. Diggle, but he was being far more subtle when it came to his family and friends, using cover stories that they would believe of him. "He's testing him," Malcolm said quietly.

"What was that, Malcolm?" Moira asked sharply, even as Laurel paused it. The room focused on the Merlyn Global CEO.

"Oliver. He's testing Mr. Diggle for something," he replied. "Everyone knows what kind of man Oliver was before he disappeared. With his family and friends, he's using the same old Oliver we knew as a cover, but with Mr. Diggle, who is probably well-aware of his previous night-life existence, he's being deliberately obvious in his cover stories."

"Agreed," Slade replied, and considering this came from a man who was former ASIS, the assertion from Malcolm was given more weight as they considered it.

"_Shouldn't take you very long. I'm shallow," Oliver replies. "And very tired, so. . . . good night."  
_

"_Good night, sir."  
_

_At the lair, Oliver is preparing to go out as The Hood. "I wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court's justice, but he chose to go after someone I care about instead." _

Laurel's eyes widened just a bit as she realized that whatever was going to happen to Somers was because he threatened her. Tommy looked at her and had to keep from rolling his eyes. Laurel was a very smart woman, but when it came to Oliver Queen and his feelings for her, she was particularly obtuse. Between the two of them, Thea hid a scoff at their antics.

_Oliver flips up the hood of his outfit, having dealt with the rest of his preparations. "He's still going to face justice." Oliver opens the crate and retrieves his bow. "It'll just be a different kind."  
_

_At the docks, Somers is panicking. "Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance. Now, the triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not gonna happen. Tell Wallace to get the boat ready. I'm leaving tonight."  
_

_His security officer begins talking on the radio. "Wallace? Wallace, you copy? Wallace?" No answer, then. . ._

"_Wallace isn't here. But I am," Oliver says over the radio as Somers begins to look horrified._

Slade chuckled. "Intimidation is most effective when the subject is already in fear," he said aloud. _  
_

"_We need to move, now. Move!" He begins running with his security officer._

"_Sir, we've got six men out there."  
_

"_It's not enough. Move it!" Somers replies in panic._

_At Laurel's apartment, she and her father are having another of their infamous cop dad, lawyer daughter discussions. "You're gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you're gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right? Or drop it. Either way, you're done."  
_

"_If you think I'm gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well."_

"_You don't know me well, young lady. I will lock you in a cell if that's what it takes." _

_Laurel stands and says, "Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take, then." She begins to walk away.  
_

_Quentin, losing his composure slightly, says, "Damn it, Laurel! I thought after what happened with Sara, you'd stop being just so reckless." _

_Laurel turns and replies, somewhat acidly, "It's not about being reckless! It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you."  
_

"_Sweetie. . . ." Quentin says before closing the distance and, with a broken composure, says, "You're my only daughter, Laurel. You're all I have left to live for."  
_

_Laurel, whose composure has similarly slipped, replies, "But what you want from me isn't living. Having cops around, not being able to do my job." _

"_Your job is not going after people like the triad or Somers," Quentin argues, the anger coming back.  
_

_Laurel replies in kind with, "My job is to use the law to fight for what is right. Just like you taught me."  
_

"_Well, that's dirty. Using me against me. You can't do that."  
_

"_Well Maybe I picked that up along the way, too," Laurel says, her tone and expression a bit softer.  
_

_Quentin's cell phone rings. "Lance." A moment later he says, "I'll be right there," and hangs up. He turns to Laurel. "I gotta go. Something's going on at the docks."  
_

_At the docks, Oliver fights his way through Somers' men, firing arrows and taking down the thugs paid to be Somers' security. One man is unfortunate enough to fall from a lengthy height after receiving an arrow. _

_Oliver leaps onto a cargo container and sees Somers running towards a circular building. "Somers!" _

_Somers enters the building and stumbles, looking around wildly. Oliver enters and fires an arrow, which lands just shy of Somers' shoulder, causing the man to stiffen against a stack of crates. "Oh, God, no, no, no."  
_

Malcolm allowed a small smile to cross his features. He knew it would simply raise the suspicions of those in the room even more, but quite frankly, he had suspicions that all of his own secrets would be spilling out as time went on. Might as well show them glimpses of the real Malcolm Merlyn and not the 'responsible businessman' persona he projected for everyone to see, especially now that he had revealed some of his skillset to them. Seeing a man like Martin Somers cower in front of a fellow archer, one dedicated to ridding Starling of scum, was quite satisfying.

"_He can't help you," Oliver says and fires an arrow that embeds itself on the opposite side of Somers' head from the previous arrow. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti." _

"_I can't. The triad will kill me."  
_

"_The triad's not your concern right now." Oliver fires another arrow which embeds itself in the space between Somers' legs.  
_

Laurel coughed to hide a laugh at that one, primarily because Tommy was openly snickering at the fact that Oliver had shot very close to the man's privates.

"_All right, all right, all right. It wasn't me that killed him. It was the triad."_

_"Acting on whose instructions?" When Somers hesitates, Oliver fires another arrow which embeds just above Somers' head. "Whose!?" _

"_All right, all right. It was mine. It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me." Somers, suddenly looking afraid, looks behind Oliver, who turns to find China White standing there. _

"_Get away from him," the assassin says in Chinese. _

"_Make me," Oliver replies in kind. _

Malcolm leaned forward with interest now.

_The two fight even as police arrive outside. It is clear that both of them are very skilled in hand-to-hand. _

_This is the police! Drop your weapons, you are surrounded." The two fighters break away even as the police continue calling out, "Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons."  
_

_Oliver, now outside, drops down from a shippin container and moves forward even as Quentin comes up behind him. "Freeze!" Oliver stops. "You twitch and you're dead." Quentin's gun is steady as the two stand-off. "Bow down, hands up."  
_

Quentin leaned forward as well now, wondering if his future self would be taking Queen down so quickly.

_A moment later, Oliver throws an arrow which disarms Quentin without harmin him, pinning Quentin's gun to the container. Quentin goes up to it and notices it has a recording device attached. Pressin the button for playback, he hears Somers' confession and half-smirks. "You son of a bitch. . . ."  
_

Moira coughed and said, "Pardon me, Detective?"

Quentin looked over at her and said, "The jury's still out until these extenuating circumstances you've alluded to come to light." Moira narrowed her eyes at the man.

_At the lair, Oliver is putting away his gear. "Laurel will be safe. She was right. I can't be the Oliver my mother wants me to be and still keep the promise I made to my father. I have to be the person I need them to see me as."_

"Why do I get the feeling I am going to regret giving him that advice?" Laurel asked herself, but Tommy and Thea heard her.

"Because no matter how much he's changed, you know Oliver," Thea replied, giving Laurel a soft smile.

_The press and guests are gathering at the dedication for the land of the new Applied Sciences division of Q.C.  
_

_Tommy sees Laurel in the crowd and comes up to her. "Okay, this is a surprise. Did you show up here by mistake?" _

"_By invitation. Oliver invited me last night."  
_

"_Last night?" _

"_Is that surprise or jealousy I'm hearing?" _

"_Look, I just don't want him to find out anything, okay? Oliver has been through a lot," Tommy says, looking uncomfortable.  
_

"_Tommy, we've all been through a lot," Laurel points out.  
_

_Walter steps up to the podium. "Good afternoon. And thank you all for coming. Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center. Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company and vision are his greatest legacies. . ." Walter trails off as Oliver arrives.  
_

"_Whoa! Whoa! What about me? Right? I'm a legacy." Oliver, apparently drunk, moves through the crowd and goes up onto the podium. "Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walt. All right." He pushes Walter away from the podium, acting quite drunk and 'apologizing' at low volume. Once steady at the podium, he says, "Some of you may not know me. My name is Oliver Queen. Watch some television, read a newspaper, I'm kind of famous right now." Oliver's words have properly made him appear the same asshole he was before. _

Moira rubbed her left temple. Malcolm placed a hand on her upper leg as a sign of comfort. Tommy, seeing this, grimaced and shifted his attention back to the screen. Thea, on the other hand, noticed it as well and narrowed her eyes.

_His demeanor turns serious as he says, "Mostly, though, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son. Uh, but as Walter, who's my new dad. . . . Huh? Who is. . . sorry. As Walter was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per se."  
_

_Walter, realizing that this is a reaction to his and Moira's actions, says, "Oliver, you don't have to do this."  
_

_Oliver's having none of it as he says, "No, sit. Sit! Gosh." Turning back to the crowd, he says, "See, I was supposed to come here today, and I'm supposed to take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent. But I'm not my father." Oliver's demeanor changes again, to one of slight anger. "I'm not the man he was. I'm not half the man he was. I never will be." He turns to look directly at Moira as he finishes, "So, please, stop asking me to be." Oliver steps off the podium as Moira looks somewhat ashamed and walks away.  
_

"No, he's not Robert," Malcolm said softly. "He's better. Younger, stronger, with a great deal of conviction." Moira eyed Malcolm with suspicion, and she wasn't the only one to do so this time. Quentin had his suspicion that their timeline would see Merlyn joining forces with Queen.

_At CNRI, Laurel and Joanna are watching the news report about the incident at the docks with Emily Nocenti. "Martin Somers, the CEO of Starling Port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes."  
_

_Laurel shuts off the television and gets Emily's attention. "Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.A. now has no choice, with Mr. Somers' confession, to prosecute him. He's going to jail, Emily, for the rest of his life."  
_

"_Thank you so much for fighting for us," Emily says.  
_

"_Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me," Laurel smiles.  
_

_Quentin arrives in the office, looking a bit uncomfortable as he says, "Hey."  
_

_Laurel says, "I thought I didn't need police protection anymore."  
_

"_I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter," Quentin scowls.  
_

"_You don't."  
_

"_Hmm," Quentin hums non-commitally.  
_

"_You look tired," Laurel says.  
_

"_Yeah, I was filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night and getting grilled about how I let that __**archer**__ get away."_

_Laurel replies with, "I have to admit, I'm kind of glad he did. He brought down Martin Somers."_

Malcolm's lips twitched. He recognized the tone Laurel was using with her father. Tommy had used it, and he'd seen Thea use it as well. It was the tone of a child wanting to get a reaction out of their father, especially one with whom they clashed frequently. _  
_

_Quentin, sensing danger, says fiercely, "He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay? He is no hero. He is an anarchist."  
_

"_Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help," Laurel replies, clearly believing Oliver's alter ego is better than her father believes.  
_

"_The city doesn't need that kind of help, okay? It's like I always told you, you don't need to go outside the law to find justice. Now, I believe that. All right? And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he's gonna believe it, too."_

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is sitting at his desk and crossing Somers' name off the List. _

_In a flashback, Oliver can be seen struggling to carry his father's bod. He carefully places the body on the ground and slumps beside it. He sees the notebook the List is contained on in Robert's pocket, and pulls it out. He flips through it, finding it blank. At the front of the book, printed on the inside of the cover, he can see a strange symbol._

_Elsewhere in Starling City, Moira is meeting with someone in secret. As she speaks, it's clear she is nervous, implying whoever it is, is a very dangerous person. "Well, you saw for yourself," she says, sitting across from an unknown accomplice. "My son knows nothing. Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged." The person she is meeting holds up a leather case, which has the same symbol in embossed on it in gold._

"The elements you mentioned earlier, _Detective_," Moira said coolly, giving Quentin a soft glare. "I believe an apology is owed for your slight?"

Quentin muttered a quiet apology. Trust the likes of Moira Queen to require an apology for something he hadn't said yet; then again, propriety was as much a bitch as Moira appeared to be as of late.

The analytical side of Quentin's mind couldn't help but point out that she had become much colder since the sinking of the _Gambit_.

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is kneeling in front of Robert's memorial headstone. "All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn't realize how hard it would be. To reconnect with Mom, Thea, Laurel. I didn't. . . ." Oliver composes himself a bit before continuing, "I didn't know how painful it would be to keep my secrets. You asked me to save the city. To right your wrongs. I will. I swear. But to do that, I can't be the Oliver that everyone wants me to be, which means that sometimes. . . . To honor your wishes, I need to dishonor your memory. I'm sorry." _

There was not a single person in the room who wasn't affected by this scene, though some handled it better than others. Slade knew that the Kid, for all his likely hatred of him, was honoring Slade's memory with what he was doing as well. Again, the question came to him: was he wrong about Oliver? Was there some outside circumstance that he had not considered in his recently-revived state? He knew Sara Lance had been the one to talk Oliver into killing Ivo; he had had seen her looks to Oliver during the planning sessions. But perhaps Ivo wasn't protecting himself when he turned Slade against Oliver. Perhaps he had been protecting _her_. . . . in which case, Slade regretted Sara's relatively quick death aboard the _Amazo_.

_He gestures to the nearby workman and his own headstone. "Take it down." He goes to the car, where Diggle is waiting for him.  
_

"_Will you be going out tonight, sir?" _

"_Definitely."  
_

_In a final flashback to the Island, Oliver has finished burying his father in the ways of old when he is shot by an arrow through the shoulder. He cries out even as he collapses on the pile of stone covering his father. Turning, he sees a hooded archer preparing another arrow before losing consciousness. _

"It appears we've met whoever taught Oliver his skills with a bow," Malcolm said softly, and Slade had to keep himself from interjecting on that. "Before we continue, I would like to speak with Moira. . . . in private."

Malcolm stood and motioned for Moira to join him. They went as far away from the others as possible. "What do you want, Malcolm?" Moira asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You lied to me, Moira," Malcolm said. Seeing Moira's confused look, he clarified, "I _know_ about Thea. She has Tommy's smile. _My smile_." Moira's eyes widened, and that was all the confirmation that Malcolm needed. "Tell her by the end of the viewing, or I will," Malcolm stated, before turning back to the loveseat the two of them shared.

_**A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed the added Slade dialogue and introspections. **_


	4. Chapter 4: Lone Gunmen

_**Chapter Changes: Most of Blood's comments remain the same. Slade has more introspection and comments. **_

Chapter 4:

Lone Gunmen

Moira and Malcolm were clearly dealing with some internal debate between them, but considering what they had thus far learned about the two of them, not one person in the room felt like asking what the debate was about. As such, they began watching the next video segment.

_A man in leisurewear is standing beside a rooftop pool, talking on his cell phone. "Heh. Other than the bill I got handed this morning by my legal team, I'm feeling pretty good. Plus, now that this lawsuit's been settled, we can focus our attention on Unidac Industries." _

Malcolm and Moira kept their expressions carefully blank of any emotion in connection to Unidac. It would not do for the others viewing the memories to learn about the Undertaking and Unidac's position in it until it was brought up on screen.

_A moment later, after listening to whatever the person on the other end of the line says, the man (James Holder) says, "Ok. I'll see you in the office first thing." He shuts off the phone, then turns to see Oliver in his Hood gear standing there. "I have armed security inside," he tells Oliver nervously. "All I have to do is call out."  
_

"_Go ahead," Oliver says as he deposits the security guards' radios on the ground in front of him. "They can't hear you."  
_

"_What the hell do you want?" Holder asks. _

"_How many people died in those fires? How many?!" Oliver aims an arrow at the man he yells this. _

"That's where I know him from," Blood said aloud. At the looks he received from the others, he clarified, "James Holder owns a corporation that put faulty smoke detectors in several apartment complexes in the Glades. He's currently locked in a legal battle over the wrongful deaths. It looks like he's going to get out of it, as far as the courts are concerned. It appears Mr. Queen will be dealing with him instead." _And it couldn't happen to a nicer person, _Blood added silently. He had noted how the others reacted to Malcolm's revelations and decided to keep his own secrets for as long as possible.

"_The courts say you don't owe your victims anything. I disagree. James Holder, you-" Before Oliver can finish, Holder receives a double-tap to the chest. Oliver dives behind a portion of the stone guardrail that acts as a bench and fires a couple of arrows in the direction of the shooter. Another shot rings out. Holder has fallen into the pool. _

_The shooter stops, apparently uninterested in continuing their fight, and Oliver finds that he's been grazed by a bullet. _

_Back at the lair, Oliver has been treating the wound. "It's no surprise a man as corrupt as James Holder has more than one enemy." He stands, then collapses. Oliver grabs the gauze he was using even as he says in the mental thought process that is his tendency, "The bullet. Poison." _

Moira felt a thrill of fear go through her at that.

Slade likewise felt a jolt, and realized with a start it wasn't satisfaction or pleasure at hearing Oliver would be suffering. It was _anger_, anger that someone would use a poisoned bullet. "Dishonorable scum," Slade snarled. "Only a coward would use such a weapon."

"I agree," Malcolm said, looking towards the Australian thoughtfully. Slade, meanwhile, was struggling with the fact that he now hoped his brother would be alright; he hadn't even realized that he had referred to Oliver as his brother again, but that was what they were. Brothers, forged in the same hell and with the same flames: the flames of adversity, betrayal, survival.

_He goes to his Island trunk and pulls out a pouch of herbs and a small, hand-crafted bowl. He pours water into the bowl, quickly chews up some of the herbs, and then drinks them down with the water before collapsing to the ground. _

Malcolm made a mental note about these herbs. If all went well, perhaps Oliver would allow him to have the herbs examined by scientists in Merlyn Global's medical division to see what properties they had. _  
_

_In a flashback to the Island, Oliver is now awake in a cave, where his mysterious shooter is watching him. "Ahh," Oliver cries out his jars the arrow when turning to look at the shooter. "Who are you? Why did you shoot me?" The archer says nothing before breaking off the arrowhead to pull it out. "Aah!" _

_Oliver awakens in the present as his cell phone beeps, alerting him of the time. Back at the Queen Mansion, he finds Diggle standing in the entrance to the living room, where Moira and Walter are talking with Thea and a pair of patrolmen. "What happened? Thea okay?" _

_Diggle turns slightly and says quietly, "The cops brought her home. Her and some of her friends broke into a store, tried on some dresses last night. Lit up the breathalyzer like a Christmas tree." His tone takes on an amused, if exasperated quality. "So how was your evening, sir?" _

"That guy is probably the least-effective security detail I've ever seen," Tommy commented, his tone morbidly amused by the fact that his best friend, who is now a killer vigilante of all things, keeps ditching the man hired to 'protect' Oliver from the criminal underworld, the very people Oliver was taking down as said killer vigilante.

Malcolm said calmly, "Well, to be fair to Mr. Diggle, he's treating Oliver as he would you, Tommy. But Oliver is. . . well, better-trained than most armed forces would be." Malcolm considered the possibility that Oliver might have been trained by a member of the League at some point, but he doubted it. If it was anyone, it would have to have been someone who released from service or had run from the League.

"_You mean after I said I had to go to the bathroom at dinner and never came back?" Oliver asks rhetorically. _

"_I guess from now on I'll be watching you pee," Diggle says with a hint of sarcasm.  
_

"_Thank you, officers," Walter says to the two patrolmen. "My wife and I appreciate it. I'll see you out."  
_

_As Walter escorts the two officers out, Oliver moves a little closer to his mother and sister. Moira is giving Thea a mini-lecture. "Last time it was public intoxication. This time breaking and entering. My, how we are moving up in the criminal world."_

_"You know, when you pay off the store owner, you should check out the merchandise," Thea replies with a bit of snark. "They got some pretty killer outfits."  
_

"_Thea, go get ready for school," Moira tells her daughter._

_"Uh, you know, I was thinking of taking a sick day."  
_

"_Fine, then get some sleep," Moira says tiredly.  
_

"_You look like crap," Thea says with a smirk as she passes by Oliver. _

There was probably not one person who was looking at both Queen women with disapproval; Moira for allowing Thea to act the way she was, and Thea for pushing the limits even further than Oliver did at times when he was younger. Of course, Oliver had had Robert helping him through those times, while Thea had. . . . no one. Tommy and Laurel grimaced, realizing they had failed Thea as much as Moira had; Tommy had noticed that Thea had begun to be attracted to him a couple years ago, and had avoided going to the Queen Mansion after that, though he had kept an eye on Thea when she was hitting the party circuit. Laurel, on the other hand, knew that even if she had been angry at Oliver, that was no excuse for not being there for Thea.

_Oliver turns to his mother with a look of disapproval on his face. "You're letting her play hooky?" _

_Moira raises a hand to forestall his objections. "When your sister gets like this, it's best to give her her space."  
_

"_She's testing you."  
_

"_Yes," Moira says, giving Oliver a look that appears half-amused, half-exasperated. "Who'd she learn that from?" _

"_Mom," Oliver says, moving forward a bit. "When I was her age, you and dad let me get away with murder. Looking back, I could have used less space and more parenting." Oliver walks away, missing the look of surprise and happiness on his mother's face. _

That look was mirrored on Moira's face at the moment. Whatever her son had become now, there was one thing that was certain; he was a more mature and capable man than he had been previously. Moira wondered, for a moment, if perhaps she could share with him the secret she had kept from him about the child. She had kept tabs on the mother of her grandchild, and she knew that the possibility that secret would come out was high. _  
_

"_It doesn't make sense," Quentin says, standing on the rooftop of Holder's building. _

_His partner, Lucas Hilton, looks over at him. "Holder fits the profile. Wealthy dirtbag.  
Red meat for the Hood. And we recovered at least one arrow."  
_

_Quentin nods. "Yeah, only this time the cause of death is a double tap through the heart and our perp doesn't use firearms."  
_

"_Maybe he's finally figured out there's easier ways to kill people than with a bow and arrow," Hilton replies. "It's like you said, the guy's a whackjob."  
_

_Another Oliver voice over. "The bullets were laced with curare, a rare and deadly poison, the killer's unique M.O. He's killed all over the world Chicago, Markovia, Corto Maltese. Interpol even has a codename for him Deadshot." An interlude with Deadshot tattooing Holder's name onto his chest is seen before going back to the lair. _

"Disgusting," Malcolm murmured to himself. "It's one thing to settle a matter of justice, but this is pure mercenary." Moira was the only one to hear him, and she nodded in agreement. Tommy and Thea noted the interaction and wondered what was going on with their parents.

"I've heard of Deadshot," Slade said, attracting attention again. "He is one of the few mercenaries who are higher on the watch list for organizations like ARGUS than I am."

"I've never heard of Slade Wilson on any watch list," Quentin said, "and I keep an eye on those things with the way the one percent in Starling try to kill one another." Malcolm grimaced at that; he and Robert had both evaded assassination attempts, but none of those targeting them could afford Deadshot at the moment.

"They don't call me Slade Wilson," Slade said, deciding to give just a hint of who he was. "They call me Deathstroke. A bit flamboyant, but I like it."

Malcolm eyed the Australian with renewed interest. Deathstroke had likewise earned the nickname 'the Terminator' from organizations across Europe, because he couldn't be stopped by anyone and seemed to regenerate faster than a normal human, able to survive gunshot wounds that would kill others. Malcolm had known Deathstroke wasn't a member of the League of Assassins, but not much else. But now. . . . now he was in the same room as the mercenary.

Quentin, on the other hand, had jerked back in his seat, stiffening as he stared at the smirking Australian. "You've cut a bloody swath across Europe," the man said in a near-whisper, but it was still audible.

Slade, still smirking, said, "As I said. . . . there are few weapons as honorable as a sword." It was at these words that people realized Quentin had literally meant that Slade had 'cut a bloody swath' across Europe.

"_I was prepared to give James Holder a chance to right his wrongs, but this Deadshot has no morality, no honor, no code. He doesn't kill for justice, which makes him as dangerous as anyone on my list. In fact, it puts him right at the top."_

"I must find out who gave Oliver this unique set of morals," Moira said, rubbing her temple, "so I can give them a piece of my mind."

_That's it,_ Slade thought to himself. "Then, please, give it to me, Mrs. _Queen_," he said, staring at the woman across the room. "I would be very interested to hear what you have to say."

You could've heard a pin drop in the room. Malcolm stared at the Austalian and processed what the man had just said. Malcolm nearly chuckled as he realized that Deathstroke the Terminator was the mentor of Oliver Queen, who shared a similar skillset to Malcolm himself. This was simply too odd to be anything but real life.

"You made my son into a killer?" Moira asked, staring at the man in stunned horror. The rest of the room were likewise affected, staring at the Australian in a mixture of shock and horror.

"No, he did that himself," Slade said, eying the woman in amusement. "I gave him the tools and the direction, but it was he who made the choice to kill."

Moira struggled to find words to express herself, but found there were none. Not right now. But she vowed to herself that whatever Oliver had become, she would help him realize he was still a good man, even buried under the killer in the hood.

Malcolm, meanwhile, was glad to see that Slade Wilson was a man after his own heart, and that Oliver had had the strength to do what was necessary. He doubted his own son could ever muster the conviction to do what Oliver, Malcolm, or Slade did.

_Oliver, Tommy, and Diggle are lookin around the remnants of the steel factory's main entrance. "So what do you think?" Oliver says, gesturing around. "Great spot for a nightclub or what?" _

A nightclub? Malcolm raised his eyebrow.

"_Sweet," Tommy replies. "Though I got to tell you, man, if you're thinking about calling it Queen's, I don't think you're gonna get the clientele that you were hoping for."  
_

_Oliver, distracting Tommy, points in a random direction. "Private office."  
_

"_For the private one-on-one meetings, I would imagine," Tommy replies with a grin. _

_"Hopefully the occasional two-on-one meeting," Oliver says, continuing to portray what people expect him to be.  
_

"_Man, are you sure you want to do this?" Tommy asks seriously. "It's not like you really have any experience in running a well, running anything. How about tomorrow night the two of us, we go and scope out the competition. There's a new club opening downtown. It's called Poison. Max Fuller owns it."_

"Oh, boy," Laurel murmured. Tommy looked confused for a moment before grimacing. Oh, right. _That_. _  
_

"_Max Fuller?" Oliver asks, trying not grin._

_Tommy hums an affirmative reply. _

_"I slept with his fiancé," Oliver says, losing his battle with his grin. _

_Tommy, likewise grinning, says, "Yeah, before the wedding."  
_

"_It was at the rehearsal dinner," Oliver chokes out.  
_

"_The rehearsal dinner is technically before the wedding," Tommy chuckles. _

Everyone in the room was struck by how similar Tommy and Oliver were, even if Oliver was only acting like his former self. Malcolm wondered, somewhat idly, if Tommy would become like Oliver if he was forced to endure what Oliver had. Of course, the primary aspect that bound both Oliver and Malcolm to their paths in seeking justice was the death of a loved one. For Oliver, it appeared that was Robert, though Malcolm wondered if there was something more at work on the Island; and for Malcolm, it was Rebecca. Tommy was too young to truly feel the need to avenge his mother, and Malcolm hoped his son would never have the need to feel that desire, even if it meant they would never have that bond.

Still, he hoped the new Oliver rubbed off on Tommy some, made him into something more than he was.

"_Right? And besides, who stays mad at a castaway?" He gets an alert on his cell phone and grimaces. "Ah, dammit, I got to roll. Anyway, I'll see you later, man. Good place." On the way out, he pats Diggle on the arm with a "See ya."  
_

_As Tommy takes off, Oliver turns to Diggle. "So what do you think?" _

"_Well, I'm here to provide security, sir, not a commentary," Diggle replies.  
_

"_Oh, come on, Dig, do me a favor. Speak freely, please."  
_

_Diggle, adjusting his suit, says, "Well, this is The Glades, right? Your rich white friends wouldn't come to this neighborhood on a bet."  
_

"_I am Oliver Queen, right? People would stand in line for 3 hours if I opened a club," Oliver points out.  
_

"_And no one who actually lives in The Glades would see a penny of those cover charges," Diggle issues as a rebuttal. _

"_So we make it a successful business, we gentrify the neighborhood," Oliver replies with a smile to Dig.  
_

"_I was wondering when we would get to that," Diggle replied. "The white knight swooping in to save the disenfranchised. And all by his lonesome with no help from anybody."  
_

"_Wow," Oliver says. "You don't think very much of me, do you?" _

"_No, sir, actually, I have a very high regard for how __**perceptive**__ you are. Sir." Diggle turns and leaves with a bit of a repressed smile. _

_Oliver turns to the factory itself. "The nightclub will conceal my base underneath and provide an alibi for where Oliver Queen spends his nights."  
_

Laurel groaned and rubbed her temples. "What is it, Laurel?" Quentin asked.

Laurel, looking up at her father, said, "Did Oliver get a crash course in how to manipulate people on that island, along with a jump in IQ points? Because the Oliver Queen I knew would never have come up with a cover story that good."

A few chuckles rippled across the room, while in another part of the station, Barry Allen was once again amused.

_At CNRI, Laurel is concentrating on something on her computer as Joanna comes up to her. "Hey. Do you have the depo's on the Jergens case?" Laurel jumps, and moves to close the window, but not before Joanna sees that it's an article about Oliver opening a nightclub. _

"_Yeah, they're around here somewhere." Laurel replies as she stands and looks around for the paperwork. When she turns back, Joanna looks pointedly at her and the computer. "I was just surfing the 'net," Laurel says defensively._

Quentin groaned quietly to himself. He recognized that particular defensive tone. It was the "You've caught me doing something I don't want to admit to and I will deny it to my dying breath" defensive tone. _  
_

"_Really?" Joanna asks._

"_Joanna, I'm over him," Laurel says. After a moment, she says, "And you don't believe me."  
_

_Laurel begins walking away as Joanna follows her, saying, "Well, I would have if I wouldn't have just caught you trolling for articles on him!" _

"_I wasn't trolling!" Laurel protests. _

"_I don't want to have to be the one to remind you that he cheated on you, Laurel. With your sister," Joanna says.  
_

"_I appreciate your self control," Laurel replies, with just a hint of bitchiness (the good kind though).  
_

"_You're __**stuck**__ in the past," Joanna continues, now with a full head of steam. "And the reason I know this is the fact that the only physical relationship you've had since Oliver is with his best friend. It is time to move on. It is past time."  
_

Tommy smirked and said, "Maybe I should team up with Joanna to get you out of that law office."

Laurel glowered at Tommy. "Sure you could keep your focus on that goal and not on her skirt for that long?" Tommy flinched back at that, and Laurel grimaced. "Sorry, Tommy," she said softly. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No, no, it's okay," Tommy replied, somewhat shakily. "I've got a reputation. It's not undeserved."

"_I've been busy," Laurel says, trying to avoid the issue. "I work a lot."  
_

"_Ok. That's got to stop. So we are going out tonight. And-and we are going to have some shots and we are going to dance with men that we don't know and we are going to stay out way too late."_

"Oh! Jergens depo's," Laurel says, finding the paperwork and handing it to Joanna. "I really don't think I can go out tonight," she says to try and not have to deal with it.  


_Joanna smiles and says, "It is adorable that you actually think I'm giving you a choice."_

_Well, if Laurel does get back with Oliver, I guess I could look at getting together with her friend, _Tommy thought, somewhat gloomily. _She did say she thought I was cute, right? _Laurel, already seeing where Tommy's mind was heading, shook her head. Tommy Merlyn was just not the kind of guy who changed overnight. Then again, Oliver Queen hadn't been either. _  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Thea is getting ready for school when Moira comes in. "I want you to come home right after school."  
_

"_Oh, can't," Thea replies. "Margot and I are going to go to the mall."  
_

"_What, more shopping?" the sarcasm is heavy in Moira's reply. "Tell Margot you'll have to cancel. You're grounded for two weeks," she adds with a decisive nod.  
_

_Thea, looking surprised and a bit put out, says, "Grounded? I've __**never**__ been grounded."  
_

"_Well, you've never committed larceny before," Moira says.  
_

"_Since when do you care?" Thea asks snidely. _

"_I've always cared," Moira states defensively. "I'm your mother."  
_

_Thea, not wanting to lose the amount of freedom she's had, continues to argue. "Look, we've had a good thing going on the last five years. Why mess with that now?" _

_Moira, seemingly more awake to the faults of her own parenting skills, says, "No, we are paying off store owners to keep your record clean, so clearly, it hasn't been working."  
_

"_And you're going to teach me," Thea replies scornfully, before realization dawns. "It's Oliver, isn't it? His judgmental hypocrisy is rubbing off on you."  
_

"_No, I don't need Oliver to teach me how to parent you," Moira said, her tone more firm now. "You'll be home by 4:00."  
_

"_Or what? You're going to call the cops on me? Tell them I say hi," Thea replies before leaving Moira standing in the room, looking uncertain of herself.  
_

_In an alleyway, Oliver looks for evidence of the shooter. He climbs up the wall and finds one of them, pulling it out. Back in the lair, Oliver completes a renditioning of the bullet as the scene switches to the police station, with Hilton and Quentin. "Got ballistics back on the Holder murder," Hilton says as he speaks with Quentin, a file between them. "They pulled two 7.62 millimeter bullets out of him. According to the stippling and size of the entry wound, they estimate the shots were fired from approximately a hundred yards away."  
_

"_A hundred yards?" Quentin says skeptically. "What, so the Hood shoots him from another building, goes over to his place, he takes out his security, and then he fires off a few arrows?" _

_Hilton continues, "And according to his tox screen, his blood contained high concentrations of strychnos toxifera."  
_

"_What?" _

"_Curare. It's a kind of poison."  
_

"_Oh," Quentin says. "Okay, so now we switch from arrows to sniper bullets and poison." He shakes his head. "I'm not buying it."  
_

"_We still found arrows on the scene," Hilton reminds his partner. "Solid evidence the hood was there." Quentin begins walking out of the precint. "Where you going?" _

"_I'm going to get my own evidence," Quentin replies. _

_Back at the lair, Oliver is looking up more information. "The money trail leads back to the Bratva the Russian mob. Finally some good luck." _

Quentin sat up a bit straighter as he realized he might get a lead into the Bratva from watching this, even if he couldn't act on it very easily.

_Quentin is seen looking on the rooftop, putting the pieces together as he stares out across the city to the rooftop the sniper shot from. _

_Oliver, wearing a ballcap, enters a mechanic's shop. The owner asks, "Can I help you?" _

_Oliver, in Russian, replies, "I'm looking for Alexi Leonov." _

"_There is no one here by that name," the Russian replies. _

"_Not in your shop," Oliver replies. "Beneath it." As one of the 'mechanics' comes over, Oliver pulls down his shirt to reveal the tattoo. "I am Bratva." _

_The Russian, Alexi, gives a small bow. "Pleased to meet you."  
_

_They are now descending into the basement. "I apologize," Alexi says. "We meant no disrespect to a captain. Particularly an American one. So. . . How can I be of assistance?" _

"_I'm in the market for a hired gun. Someone the organization's used before. His calling card is a 7.62 millimeter gun laced with curare," Oliver says.  
_

"_I know no man who uses such tools," Alexi admits.  
_

"_But you can find out who does," Oliver replies.  
_

_Alexi gives a thin-lipped smile and pours two glasses of vodka. "First, we will drink to each other's health, then I will look into the identity of this man you seek." The two drink. "Ahh. I will also confirm that you are really Bratva captain.  
Should this not be the case, I will send my mechanic here to find you and kill you and your family." Oliver keeps a stoic expression on his face at this threat. _

"Something tells me that Oliver could deal with whoever this man sent, and then wipe out the Bratva in Starling if he had a mind to," Malcolm mused aloud, and the rest of the room flinched at the reminder of the brutality of Oliver seen so far.

"He could, especially as he is now," Slade said, not bothering to hide his knowledge of Oliver's skills. "He was nowhere near this competent when we parted ways, however." _  
_

_In a hotel room, Deadshot is inscribing another name onto his body as the news reports on his latest kill. "Carl Rasmussen was found shot to death in his home earlier this evening. The police will not comment if there's a connection between Mr. Rasmussen's death and the murder of James Holder a few nights ago. Mr. Rasmussen leaves behind a wife and three children."  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Walter and Moira are being spoken to by Quentin and Hilton. "It's a great loss," Walter is saying. "Carl was a titan."  
_

"_A titan who was looking to buy out a company called Unidac Industries?" Hilton asks. _

"_Well, industries are something of a misnomer. UI's recent activity was actually looking into alternative energy."  
_

_Quentin says, "I think the point my partner is trying to make is that Carl Rasmussen was the second bidder this week to lose his life."  
_

"_Are you implying something, Detective?" Moira asks pointedly. _

"Dad," Laurel said warningly.

"Yeah, yeah, don't upset the Ice Queen," Quentin muttered to his daughter. Sadly, Moira heard this and narrowed her eyes at the man. Quentin stubbornly refused to look at Moira. He had found the woman to be a good person before, but ever since the loss of Robert and Oliver, along with Sara, the woman had slowly become as though she had ice in her veins. He had started referring to her as the Ice Queen a couple years after the _Gambit_ had sunk.

"_Well, only that your husband's looking into buying Unidac Industries and the competition seems to be dropping like flies," Quentin replies.  
_

"_And I'm sure your veiled accusation has nothing to do with how you feel about my family?" Moira asks pointedly. _

"_Unidac's in receivership, Detective," Walter says, to avoid confrontations. "Ownership is subject to a liquidation auction, so that means there are many prospective buyers. And the auction's tomorrow, so if I was taking out the competition, I have a lot of killing to do in a very short amount of time."  
_

"_We're just making the rounds with the interested buyers. Let them know to be careful," Hilton, likewise looking to avoid conflict.  
_

"_Oh, yes," Moira replies, her voice laden with sarcasm. "And I'm overwhelmed that Detective Lance is concerned for our safety."  
_

Quentin grimaced, silently admitting he deserved that one.

"_Well Thank you for your concern, gentlemen," Walter says. Gesturing to the nearby Diggle, he says, "Our security consultant, Mr. Diggle, is taking all the necessary precautions."  
_

"_Yeah. Right," Quentin replies, a bit surly. "Well, if you need us, we're just a 911 call away."  
_

_At the new club, Poison, Oliver is with Tommy in line. Tommy laughs as he says, "Oh, my, this is going to be killer."  
_

_Oliver, looking a mix of amused and exasperated, says, "If Max Fuller sees me here, I agree."  
_

"_Ah, if you want to run a business, you've got to take a few risks," Tommy replies and he and Oliver enter.  
_

_When Diggle tries to follow, the bouncer puts a hand up and says, "I don't see your name on the list."  
_

"_Mr. Queen," Diggle calls out, his tone of voice shows he suspects what's coming.  
_

"_Oh!" Oliver comes back over and, patting the bouncer, points at Diggle and says, "I have never seen this guy before in my life. Ever." Diggle's expression is a bit sour as the two younger men enter the club. _

_Inside the club, Oliver and Tommy take in the sights. At the bar, Laurel is shaking her head at Joanna and turns back to order another drink.  
_

"_Oh, wow!" Tommy says, coming up by her. "Doesn't you going out and having fun violate some kind of law, you know, like the ones that are carved on a stone tablet?" _

"_That's cute, Tommy," Laurel replies, cynically amused by the two men's presence.  
_

"_Thanks," Tommy says.  
_

"_I can see you two are up to your old hunting patterns."  
_

"_Just seeing what passes for fun in starling city after five years," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Ah. Well, I'm sure you'll find that it just hasn't been the same without you."  
_

_Thea, very wasted and dressed in normal clubbing attire, comes out of nowhere and greets Oliver. "Big brother! She hugs him then backs away slowly with a, "Oh! I am so wasted right now, there is there is two of you." Tommy and Laurel, sensing a sibling pissing contest, turn slowly and try to ignore the Queen duo.  
_

Moira coughed slightly, while Malcolm allowed his lips to twitch. Thea was giving first Laurel, then Tommy, a glare (which Malcolm recognized as his).

"_I thought you were grounded," Oliver says, trying to keep her steady.  
_

"_I am," Thea replies. "And thank you for that, by the way."  
_

"_You're done for the night," Oliver says firmly._

_"Oh, what are you going to do? Tell mom?"_

"_Thea! You are hanging with the wrong people."  
_

"_You're one to talk," Thea says, and Tommy and Laurel begin to turn, looking just a little bit startled. "How much do you know about your own so-called friends over here?" _

_Tommy tries to delay the inevitable. "Oh, Thea, maybe you should-" _

"_Tommy, I think your BFF has a right to know," Thea replies back snappily, or as snappily as someone who's wasted can snap.  
_

"_Thea, let's go," Oliver says, trying to pull her away.  
_

_Unfortunately, Thea is not to be deterred in her need to make everyone as miserable as she is. "Well, I guess they never told you that they've been screwing while you were gone." Oliver's expression is one of acceptance, not betrayal, but neither Thea nor Tommy notices.  
_

"_Look, man, I-" Tommy begins. _

"_Tommy, it's okay," Oliver says, before grabbing his sister by the arm. "You and me, we're done for the night."  
_

_Thea jerks away from him. "Take your hands off of me. You're not my father. And you're barely my brother." Thea storms off, and Oliver is looking frustrated.  
_

"_Well, look at this," a voice says. "Oliver Queen." Oliver turns to see Max Fuller standing there with three bruisers.  
_

"_Max Fuller," Oliver says, giving the man a clearly fake smile. "How you been?" _

"_Happy you drowned," Max replies. Oliver's smile drops. _

"Oh, dear," Moira said softly.

_Now led away from the crowd, Oliver is behind a curtained area. He turns and says, "Hey, Max-" only to get a blow to the jaw for his trouble. On the ground, he visibly restrains himself from reacting how he would with a scumbag._

Malcolm looked morbidly amused at this, knowing how much restraint the younger man would probably have to put into keeping himself from revealing his other side. Malcolm had had the training by the League to center himself at all times, but it appeared that whatever training Oliver had received didn't include such exercises. Or if it had, Oliver hadn't taken to those exercises as easily as he had the martial ones.

Slade was surprised at the way the kid calmed himself down, and stared at his own right hand. He had used that very same method to control his anger when the Mirakuru was first injected in him, and used it even now.

"_Get him up!" Max tells his bruisers. _

_Tommy intervenes when the two men grab Oliver, pushing them away while saying, "Hey, let him go, let him go! Hey, I said let him go!" _

Malcolm pinched the bridge of his nose. Tommy was very loyal, but he had the self-preservation skills of a novice. Malcolm tried to ignore the little voice that said Tommy was much more his mother's son rather than his father's; whether he ignored said voice out of masculine pride or something else would be debatable.

"_Told you he was going to be pissed," Oliver tells Tommy from behind him.  
_

"_Back off, Merlyn," Fuller, his arms crossed and looking amused, says. "This isn't your problem."  
_

"_You want to get to him?" Tommy says, keeping between the bruisers and Oliver. "You've got to go through me." Seeing the bruisers begin to shift into fighting stances, Tommy glances back at Oliver with a somewhat freaked out, "Wow, they are probably going to get through me."_

"I thought chicks dug bruises?" Laurel asked, just a hint of taunting in her voice. Tommy flushed; apparently, the younger Merlyn had said a variation of the 'chicks dig scars' to Laurel at some point and she had filed it away until it was needed. _  
_

_The Merlyn and Queen boys engage in a brief brawl with the two, Oliver purposely downplaying his fighting skills while Tommy is clearly ineffective as a fighter, while Max watches. Max finds himself on the receiving end of a beating, though, when Laurel intervenes, grabbing him from behind, giving him a couple kidney shots, and sending him sprawling to the ground. "So is this over, Max?" she asks, gesturing around them. "Or are you going to have your boys pound on me next?" _

_Max stands up, and in a sniveling voice of a toddler when events haven't gone as he wanted, whines, "You three consider yourselves banned for life. Get the hell out of my place!" _

_As a last defiant statement as Max and his three men leave, Tommy calls out, "Your club sucks anyway."_

Laurel shook her head and Malcolm allowed a smile to cross his face at this. Regardless of the circumstances, Tommy was a Merlyn, and a Merlyn always had to have the last word. _  
_

"_You guys ok?" Laurel asks as she comes up to the two men. _

"_Where'd you learn to do that?" Oliver asks, looking impressed. _

"_Cop dad, remember? He made me take self defense classes."  
_

_As Laurel begins walking away, Oliver says. "Laurel. What Thea said-" _

"_Oliver, Tommy and I don't need your blessing," Laurel says, turning and giving Oliver yet another Look. "And I don't need your forgiveness."_

_In a flashback, Oliver is seen sleeping in the cave. He wakes up and sees Yao Fei is also asleep. He struggles to stand, and then hurries out of the cave. Running through the woods, he finds himself caught up in a net like a wild animal. _

"These flashbacks are seriously giving we mental whiplash," Thea said, rubbing her forehead. "We see the Oliver we remember, and then we're back with the crazy killer he's become." Everyone flinched at the blunt, if honest, appraisal of Oliver, before some of them (Thea and Moira) glared at Slade Wilson, who gave them an unreadable look in return.

_Back in the present, Diggle leads to the two men into the Big Belly Burger. Diggle, waving at one of the waitresses, says, "Why don't you guys take a seat, and I will grab a couple of burgers and some ice for those faces."_

"The girl's pretty cute," Tommy says, glancing at the waitress. 

Laurel gave Tommy a look. _  
_

_Diggle gives Tommy a Look of his own and says, "That's my sister in law."_

Quentin, smirking, said, "Looks like you've finally picked the wrong target, Merlyn Jr." At the raised eyebrows he received from the room, he snorted. "What? I don't get along with Merlyn Sr. over there, and I keep collaring the other one. I'm not gonna call them by their first names." _  
_

"_Who I will never speak to or look at, ever," Tommy amends his statement. "Gonna grab a booth." He hurries away.  
_

"_She's not wearing a wedding ring," Oliver notices. "Brother out of the picture?" _

_Diggle, his expression somewhat blank but with a hint of regret, says, "Yeah, you could say that." Oliver moves to meet up with Tommy while Diggle moves to speak to his sister-in-law. "Hey you," Diggle says.  
_

"_So sweet of you to adopt two white boys," Carly says, grinning at him. "They need a good role model."_

Laurel said, "Oliver, not really. Tommy. . ." she left that one hanging.

"What about me?" Tommy said, annoyed.

Laurel looked him up and down, then said, "Maybe your dad should hire Mr. Diggle for your security detail." Tommy's face went white; or _whiter_ since he was already pretty pale by virtue of genetics (one of Rebecca's few traits she had hated was that she burnt easily). Malcolm hid a smile at Tommy's expression and considered that possibility for only a moment before deciding he would go with his original plan: he would cut Tommy off to get him to grow up a bit and stop being so laid-back. _  
_

"_That's my client, Oliver Queen," Diggle replies.  
_

"_Looks like you're doing a bang up job protecting him," Carly replies, glancing at the two bruised men.  
_

"_Mmm," Diggle replies, non-committal.  
_

_At the booth, Tommy's looking guilty as he says, "Look, man, about Laurel. I was going to tell you. I was just trying to figure out the right way."  
_

"_To tell somebody that you slept with their girlfriend after they went missing and were then presumed dead," Oliver says, then gives Tommy a smile. "What, there's no greeting card for that?" Tommy lets out a laugh and the two enjoy the laugh for a moment. _

_Tommy, looking a bit less guilty, says, "Look it was wrong," Oliver goes to interrupt again, and Tommy steams ahead with, "And I'm sorry."  
_

"_Tommy," Oliver says. "I was dead."  
_

"_No, man, you were with Laurel," Tommy says, adamant in owning up to his mistakes. "And whether you were dead, or as it turns out, alive on a deserted island, you are my friend. And me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about 50 different ways."  
_

"_Thank you," Oliver says, sincerely. "But it's okay."  
_

_Back at the counter, Carly asks Diggle, "How dangerous is this gig, anyway?" _

"_It's a cakewalk, Carly, don't worry," Diggle replies.  
_

"_Too late. Or have you forgotten this job got your brother killed? Because, Dig, I haven't. I can't," Carly says.  
_

There were several curious looks at this. Why would the man go into the same line of work that got his brother killed? Was he doing it to honor his brother's memory? Or was he doing it as a way of finding a way to get to whoever killed his brother?

_Back at the booth, Tommy is looking at Oliver oddly. "You are being really chill about this."  
_

"_I-" Oliver begins, before his cell phone rings. He answers it. "Hello?" He says something in Russian and then puts the phone to his chest. "It's a Russian model calling me," he tells Tommy. "Can I have a minute, please?" _

"_I can see now why you were able to be so chill. Enjoy." Tommy gets up. _

_Oliver says to Alexi Leonov, "So I checked out?" _

_Alexi replies, "You did. His name is Floyd Lawton. I have address. Where he stayed last time, he was in Starling City. But that is all."  
_

"_Let's hope he's a creature of habit," Oliver says, pulling out a pen and grabbing a napkin to write on. "Go."  
_

"_You'll leave us out of this, yes?" Alexi asks. "Assuming Mr. Lawton doesn't kill you first."_

_In his hotel room, Floyd Lawton can be seen studying plans for a building while he adjusts a wrist-mounted firearm. He hears a creak in the hallway. Outside, Oliver has arrived in Hood gear and, arming his bow, kicks the door open, firing a series of arrows into the room before diving out of the way of Lawton's gunfire. Lawton uses the table and bed in the room as cover as he grabs his gear. Oliver fires another arrow before ducking away from Lawton's final volley of bullets. Lawton gets out of the hotel room via fire escape. _

_Oliver enters, and finds the laptop that Lawton was working on. _

"That's going to take some work to recover the data," Malcolm said, "and I somehow doubt Oliver has the computer skills to do that in the time given."

"He's good with electronics, but not that good," Slade said. "At least, he wasn't when we worked together."

"Meaning?" asked Moira stiffly.

"I'll let you find out on your own," Slade replied smugly. "Otherwise there's no point in this. . . . project."_  
_

_At Queen Consolidated, Oliver enters and finds Felicity Smoak hard at work, sucking on a cherry pop as she does so. He tilts his head slightly, before saying, "Ahem." She jumps. "Felicity Smoak? Hi. I'm Oliver Queen."  
_

"_Of course," she stutters out. "I know who you are, you're Mr. Queen."  
_

"_No," Oliver replies. "Mr. Queen was my father."  
_

"_Right, but he's dead. I mean, he drowned. But you didn't, which means you could come down to the I.T. department and listen to me babble. Which will end. In 3, 2, 1. . . ." Felicity trails off, turning around for a moment, before turning back and looking attentively at Oliver. _

Moira eyed the blonde IT tech on the screen thoughtfully. The woman worked for Queen Consolidated, and of all the people that Oliver could have approached, he chose Ms. Smoak. If there was one thing about the man her son had become, he didn't do anything without a reason. What did this girl have to offer her son, if anything?

_Oliver places the laptop on Felicity's desk and says, "I'm having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see." Seeing Felicity looking it over, particularly the bullet holes in the casing, he says, "I was at my coffee shop surfing the web and I spilt a latte on it."  
_

"_Really?" she asks skeptically. _

"_Yeah. . . ." Oliver says, clearly aware that it's a bad cover story.  
_

"_'Cause these look like bullet holes," Felicity says, fingering one of said holes.  
_

"_My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood," Oliver says, a bit too quickly. Felicity gives him a look that screams, 'You can do better than that, frat-boy'. _

Laurel let out a laugh at this look. She had given that one to both Tommy and Oliver in the past when they tried to fumblingly explain their latest blunder to herself, Moira, or Robert Queen. Tommy had recognized the look and shook his head.

Malcolm, meanwhile, had raised an eyebrow. "Another recruit, perhaps?" he mused to himself. Unfortunately, his words carried in the room, and those present turned to him.

"Got something to say, Merlyn?" Quentin asked, eying the man with suspicion. Ever since he had realized Merlyn Sr. was like Queen and might end up helping the other man with his one-man crusade for Starling (though Quentin grudgingly admitted that Queen was helping so far, if not within the bounds of the law), he had been keeping an eye on the man.

"Oliver appears to be feeling out Ms. Smoak in the way he's doing so with Mr. Diggle," Malcolm replied. He wouldn't reveal all his secrets, he figured those would come out on their own in the memories they were seeing. But since he had revealed his very first attempt to show his sympathies towards Oliver, he would be damned if he wasn't going to let the others know his viewpoints, even if they weren't welcome.

Moira nodded to herself and eyed the screen thoughtfully. When they returned to their own time, if it was even needed, she would run a thorough check on Ms. Smoak, and see what kind of woman was working at QC that Oliver would overlook everyone else in the I.T. department.

"_If there is anything that you can salvage from it, I would really appreciate it."  
_

"_Mm-hmm," Felicity says, taking the laptop and beginning to work on it.  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Moira enters Thea's room and finds her sitting on her bed, in her pajamas. "Oh. Well, good, you're here."  
_

"_I'm under house arrest, remember?" Thea asks.  
_

"_Do you want to wear the Calvin Klein or the Zac Posen?" Moira asks, pulling said dresses from Thea's closet. _

_Thea, looking confused, asks, "For dinner? I was just going to wear pajamas."  
_

"_To Walter's stock auction," Moira corrects.  
_

"_I think I rather be grounded," Thea replies.  
_

"_No, it's important that you come."  
_

"_Important to whom?" _

"_To me," Moira replies. Seeing Thea's skeptical expression, she sighs and comes over to sit beside her daughter. "All right, listen to me. When you were four years old, you came home one day with a cat. It was a stray, it was filthy, and it was mean. But you stood there and you declared that it was coming to live with us. Your father came home from the office and he saw what was going on, and he sat you down and he explained to you that the cat was in fact a tiger and that we needed to get it home. And somehow you understood. Robert was always so good at getting through to you. I- I was always so jealous of that."_

Malcolm felt a surge of compassion for Robert; despite the fact that he had given the order to have the _Gambit_ sunk en route to China, he still missed Robert and the counsel the man sometimes gave. Robert Queen was a good man, and he had passed that onto his son. But unlike Robert, Oliver was aware that not everything was black and white, and it would be good to have someone to bounce ideas off again. . . . if they could reach an amicable position with one another upon Oliver's return.

Moira noticed Thea's eyes moisten and felt her heart clench. She suddenly remembered what the cyborg had told them about how Oliver regretted secrets and lies, how they had torn the family apart. Moira suddenly knew that Thea's parentage would come out. She resolved to tell her daughter the truth, even though she knew it would break Thea's heart, and the image she held of her father. It was better she find out now, then find out through these memories. _  
_

"_I. . . You never talk about him. Dad. That's the first time you've talked about him in years," Thea says, her voice breaking slightly.  
_

"_Well, I think you and I have gotten into some bad habits. There's been a lot that has changed recently, Thea, and I think that maybe this can change, too." The two exchange smiles.  
_

_At Queen Consolidated, Felicity has managed to recover the data from Lawton's computer. "It looks like blueprints."  
_

"_Do you know what of?" Oliver asks. _

"_The exchange building."  
_

"_Never heard of it," Oliver replies.  
_

"_It's where the Unidac industry's auction is scheduled to take place." Felicity gives Oliver a suspicious look. "I thought you said that was your laptop."  
_

"_Yes."  
_

"_Look, I don't want to get in the middle of some Shakespearian family drama thing," Felicity says quickly.  
_

Quentin let out a cough that fooled no one. "Something to say, Detective?" Malcolm asked, eyebrow raised.

"Just that Ms. Smoak has the right of it," Quentin said. "From what we've seen so far, there is a Shakespeare quality to the way you people act." Everyone in the room knew he meant the one percent when he said "you people".

"_What?" Oliver asks, looking surprised. _

"_Mr. Steele marrying your mom," Felicity replies. Seeing Oliver is still confused, she clarifies with, "Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet?" _

_Oliver says, "I didn't study Shakespeare at any of the four schools that I dropped out of."  
_

Tommy smirked at that, than his smirk faded as he remembered Oliver was different. But he would try to be there for Oliver; they were practically brothers, and there was still the possibility that Oliver was actually his brother, if his suspicions about his father's defense of Oliver was anything to go on (and Tommy certainly thought it was).

_Sighing, as though addressing a simpleton, Felicity turns and explains, "Mr. Steele is trying to buy Unidac Industries. And you've got a company laptop associated with one of the guys he's competing against."  
_

"_Floyd Lawton," Oliver replies._

"_No. Warren Patel." Felicity peers at Oliver curiously. "Who's Floyd Lawton?" _

"_He is an employee of Mr. Patel, evidently," Oliver says, as he studies the blue prints._

_While Oliver studies them, another of his voice overs begin. "The exchange building is surrounded by 3 towers with eye lines into the building. Lawton could get a kill shot off from virtually anywhere. But I can't cover the area. I can't protect all of Deadshot's targets. I can't do this alone." _

_Outside the police precinct, Quentin is heading for his car. _

Quentin's perpetually-sour expression soured further. Malcolm felt his lips twitch again as he caught on to Quentin's train of thought. Laurel coughed, and Tommy openly smirked as he realized what was coming.

_Oliver comes up from behind him and pins Quentin to the hood of the car. "Ah, you son of a bitch!" _

Moira coughed. Quentin ignored her. Whatever amicable relations their families had had died when the _Queen's Gambit_ went down.

"_Detective, quiet!" _

"_You've got a pair on you, pulling this right outside the police station!" Quentin tells him. _

"_Floyd Lawton's the one targeting the buyers interested in Unidac Industries. Interpol calls him "Deadshot" because he never misses. You can look this up after I go."  
_

"_Yeah, and stop chasing you, I suppose?" Quentin asks sarcastically. _

_Oliver, ignoring the detective's biting comments, continues, "Warren Patel hired Lawton. I can't be sure who they're targeting, it might be all the buyers, and I can't protect them in a space that big. I need your help."  
_

_Yeah, professional help," Quentin replies.  
_

Laurel shook her head at the two men on the screen. The two couldn't be more opposite in their approach, but they both cared about Starling City. That much was clear. Idly, she wondered what would happen if/when her father and Oliver worked together. Would they grow to have a healthy respect for each other, or would there always be a level of distrust between them?

"_Lawton laces his bullets with curare. Tell your men to wear kevlar."_

_I'll tell them to shoot you-" Oliver takes off after slamming an arrow into the hood of the car. _

_At the stock offering, Moira is speaking to Walter. "Well, it's quite a turn out."_

"_Well, it's quite an opportunity, actually," Walter says. "But regardless of the outcome of the auction, I'm already a winner because I have the two most beautiful women at my side tonight."_

_Moira asks, "Two?" _

Moira and Malcolm both felt a thrill of fear at that, realizing Thea had decided to come to the stock offering. Malcolm knew he would be sending a representative to that offering rather than go himself (to avoid suspicion due to the knowledge of what Unidac was studying), and decided he would be there in his League gear, to help Oliver take down this sniper, _Deadshot_. No one threatened what family Malcolm had left and _lived_. Unconsciously, he put a hand on Moira's leg to reassure her, and she gripped his hand there firmly. This did not escape, nor dissipate, the suspicions of their children.

"_Mm-hmm," Walter says, and turns Moira to face Thea, who smiles at them. "Thanks for coming, Thea. It means a lot to your mother. And me."  
_

_The coordinator comes up to Walter. "Mr. Steele, the auction will be opening in 5 minutes. Please make sure your bid is ready."_

"_Thank you, Gina," Walter says before gesturing the ladies to the 'auction room'. "Shall we?" _

_Oliver breaks away from his family and watches as officers, including Hilton, move to speak with Patel. "Warren Patel. I'm going to need you to come with me, sir."  
_

_Meanwhile, Lance and the other cops on the protection detail are checking in with one another. "Unit one, all clear. Unit two, you copy?" _

"_We have Patel in custody. Still, no sign of Lawton."  
_

"_Unit three?" _

"_I'm at the northwest perimeter. All clear."  
_

"_Unit four?" _

"_Parking structure is clear."  
_

"_Unit five, what's your status?" _

_Inside the vacant building across the way, an officer lays on the ground, dead. Deadshot taps the mike and says, "This is unit five. All clear."  
_

"Damn it," Quentin cursed, realizing the only thing that would stop the sniper now was Oliv-Queen, not Oliver. Never Oliver, not after what he'd done, what he'd become.

_At the courthouse, Laurel is going through some paperwork and finds Tommy waiting for her. "Oh, what a shock," he says, "It is Friday night. What are you doing here?" _

"_Well, I am an attorney and this is a courthouse, so I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" Laurel points out, ending with an inquisitive, if exasperated look on her face. _

Thea's lips twitched at this. Laurel had been looking at the younger girl in suspicion, and her eyes narrowed. Exactly who did Thea want her to end up with? Oliver or Tommy?

"_I wanted to talk to you about last night," Tommy begins.  
_

"_You mean how I saved your asses? You're welcome," Laurel replies.  
_

"_Okay, first of all, we shall never, ever speak of that ever again," Tommy says, desperate to keep his macho reputation. "And secondly, I think you know that I meant the other thing."  
_

"_I don't care to talk about that," Laurel says, before turning to leave.  
_

_Tommy stops her with his next words. "I spoke to Oliver. He was surprisingly cool."  
_

_Laurel turns, looking at Tommy. "That's because he knew." Tommy is shocked. "Did you see his face when Thea told him? Tommy, he didn't even blink. Trust me, he knew."  
_

"_Then why didn't he say anything?" Tommy asks, apparently a bit hurt. _

"_I don't know," Laurel replies. "Maybe because he knows he doesn't have any right to judge me."  
_

"_There's a silver lining, though," Tommy says, attempting to curry favor with her. "Now that the whole truth and nothing but is out, is there a chance now for you and me? You said you didn't think that I was a one girl type of guy. I'm going to prove you wrong."  
_

"_By dating me," Laurel replies, a degree of skepticism in her voice.  
_

"_By being better," Tommy replies. "By being someone that you deserve and that you want to be with."  
_

_Laurel, smiling a bit, replies, "Well that's certainly a guy I'd be interested in meeting."  
_

"_Good," Tommy says, grinning. "Now how about we start, ahem, by getting you the heck out of here. Come on, it is Friday night." When Laurel still looks reluctant, he pushes again. "Come on."  
_

"_Fine."  
_

"_Good." The two leave the courthouse together. _

Malcolm nodded to himself. Laurel was helping Tommy become a better person, but it was a little too late. At the rate things were going, Tommy wouldn't be really ready for the harsh aspects of life until it hit him.

_At the stock offering, Quentin has found Oliver. "Well, don't you scrub up nice?" _

"_Here to support my family," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Yeah, me, too, God help me," Quentin replies.  
_

_Oliver, his expression and tone sincere, says, "Thank you." Quentin gives a sarcastic little huff while half-sneering before walking away. Oliver finds himself standing next to Diggle. "Dig. Got your eyes open?" _

"_That's what I'm here for, sir," Diggle replies, still with a bit of mild amusement in his voice. "That and answering patronizing questions." _

"_This guy's out of time," Oliver says softly, once again testing Diggle. "If he's going to do something, it's going to happen before the auction."  
_

Everyone could now recognize when Oliver was testing the man. Tommy let out a low whistle. "That is one loyal guy," he said. "By now, I think most private security would've turned in their papers and made their suspicions known to the cops."

Quentin Lance clearly agreed, and was very sour about the fact that Mr. Diggle had not yet made the choice to turn Queen , or at least share his suspicions with the authorities.

"_Sir?" Diggle asks. _

"_I heard the story on the radio-" Oliver begins before being interrupted by Walter, who's standing nearby. _

_"Oliver. So pleased you were able to attend."  
_

_Across the street, Deadshot is watching the two men through the scope of his sniper rifle. "Walter, the police said that some of the Unidac bidders were murdered. I just think that we should be a little bit more careful." Back to Oliver and Walter, Oliver continues with, "My mother's already lost a husband."  
_

Moira let out a small smile at Oliver's attempt to dissuade Walter from being so out in the open. He may have become hard on that Island, but he was still a good boy, though now she should amend that to good man. She was glad for that.

"_Well, if Moira shared your concern, she wouldn't have come," Walter says confidently. "And she definitely wouldn't have brought your sister." Oliver looks startled as Walter gestures to the two women. Oliver moves over to speak to them as Deadshot continues lining up his shot.  
_

"_Hi," Oliver says, gesturing for DIggle to come over. _

_Moira, smiling, says, "Oliver, what a wonderful surprise," even as Diggle arrives by their side.  
_

_Oliver tells Diggle, gesturing to his mother and sister, "I need you to get them out of here right now."  
_

Malcolm nodded his approval at this, and Tommy made up his mind to confront his father and Mrs. Queen about what this was all about once the 'episode' was over.

_Meanwhile, Deadshot has lined up his sights on Walter, but Quentin notices the laser sight and pulls Walter out of the way. _

Moira felt a small shiver of relief course through her at this.

_A waiter is struck instead. Immediately, the crowd begins to panic, filing towards the exits. Oliver asks his family, "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" _

"_No, I'm fine!" Moira replies, Thea nodding shakily beside her. "Where is Walter?" _

_Oliver turns and sees Walter being hurried away from the area by cops. "Walter's fine," he says.  
_

"_Sir, I have to get you out of here," Diggle says.  
_

"_No, them!" Oliver tells the man. "Them!" Diggle pushes the protesting women towards the exit while Oliver runs towards another staircase. Arriving in a stairwell, he pulls out the bag with his equipment and his hood.  
_

Malcolm let a small smile of satisfaction cross his features at seeing Oliver's convictions once more displayed. Moira, for the first time, felt a similar satisfaction. She had been in shock when her son was handling Adam Hunt and Martin Somers, but now. . . now she could see the good he was doing for the people that those like herself and Malcolm had either failed or were attempting to destroy.

_Diggle, finally having gotten the women to move forward, says, "Go, go, I'll find him, ma'am, I'll find him," to Moira's whispered horror about what might have happened to Oliver. He goes to the staircase, and sees the opened trashcan. He moves up, trying to find where his client has gone. _

_Across the street, Lawton is packing up when Oliver crashes through the window. Lawton fires at him, and Oliver moves into cover. He calls out, "Drop your guns."  
_

Malcolm tilted his head. It appeared that, like with all his other targets, Oliver was giving Deadshot a chance to do the right, honorable thing. That was clearly something left over from his training with Slade Wilson. Looking over, he saw that Wilson was sporting a satisfied expression.

_Lawton, a tone of admiration coloring his voice, replies, "I admire your work." His tone takes on a bitter tinge. "Guess you won't be extending me any professional courtesy."  
_

Quentin shook his head. "Even the mercenary knows what Queen is now. Why can't any of you see it?"

Moira, finally snapping from the snippy little comments the sour detective had been making, said sharply, "Perhaps because we see the city is suffering, and not just because of the wealthy. Alderman Blood?" The man jerked at being addressed, having been in the shadows for a while, figuratively speaking. "How many murders are committed in the Glades, how many men like James Holder from earlier in this sequence have gotten away with their corrupt business practices? How many of them have the police and the law prosecuted to their fullest extent?"

"Barely 20 percent, if that," Blood replied replied. "The people of the Glades are in the position they are because the police and those who work in City Hall cater to the upper class. I've worked in countless shelters and attempted numerous fundraisers. I've spoken with every Chief of Police that's been in office since I took my position as an Alderman. There's been no attempt to make the Glades a better place; no effective attempt. Either someone very powerful is keeping the Glades the way it is, or the police and City Hall just don't care. It appears that your son, whether he's a murderer or not, is the champion the Glades needs to survive; and he'll have my support, so long as he doesn't become a threat to the people of the Glades. With that, he Sebastian quieted, his chest heaving at having spoken so passionately about this.

Laurel felt her heart go out to the Alderman. She turned to her father and said, "Alderman Blood's right, Dad. The police and the district attorney, they ignore the suffering in the Glades because they don't care. It's why I decided to work at CNRI, to help the people there get the justice the police and D.A. _won't_ help them get. Say what you like about Oliver. At least he's _trying_." Before Quentin could say anything in objection to either his daughter or the Alderman reprimanding him, Laurel began the playback again.

"_We're not in the same line of work," Oliver denies. "Your profession is murder."  
_

"_You've taken lives," Lawton replies snidely.  
_

"_For the good of others," Oliver says, resolute. "You're out for yourself."  
_

_Lawton allows a small smirk to cross his face before he and Oliver engage in a firefight once more. The fight ends with Oliver putting an arrow through Lawton's eye. _

Slade winced at that, and Thea, who had stopped watching her mother and Mr. Merlyn for the moment, caught this. "Oh, my God!" she said, distracting the viewers, who followed her gaze to Slade. "He did that, didn't he?"

Some were confused, but Slade cleared up that confusion soon enough. "Your brother didn't have a bow then," Slade said, "so he rammed an arrow through my eye."

Moira narrowed her eyes at the man. If her son, who was clearly still a good man despite being a killer, had done that to this man. . . . "You're not his friend," she said, a feeling of cold certainty creeping over her. "You're his enemy."

"I _was_ his friend, and he was like my brother, until he betrayed me!" Slade snarled, his face twisting in anger. "That is why I have let him rot on Lian Yu! An eternity in purgatory for his betrayal!"

The group sat, stunned, for a while. Finally, slowly, but with everyone keeping an eye on the Australian, Laurel began the playback again.

_Oliver examines the man's body, but is distracted when he hears a noise behind him. Turning, he finds Diggle there, shot by one of Lawton's curare bullets. He grabs Diggle and moves to leave. _

_In a flashback, Oliver is awakened, still in the net, by Yao Fei. The man is holding a machete to the net. "Fool," he says in Mandarin. "This place is too dangerous for any one man to be alone." He cuts Oliver down and they escape back into the jungle. Black clad mercenaries find the cut net, revealing Oliver and Yao Fei are not on the island alone. _

As the memory faded, Tommy stood from his seat. "Dad, what's going on?"

Malcolm, looking surprised, glanced toward his son. "Tommy?"

"Between you and Mrs. Queen. You keep acting all. . . well, like you're together. You keep defending Oliver, and now we find out you and he are just like one another. Is-Is Oliver my brother? I mean, my _actual_ brother?"

Thea stood and looked at the two in disbelief. "W-What? Tommy?"

Moira sighed and stood, giving Malcolm a glance that said he was entirely at fault for this. Malcolm knew better than to speak up for the moment. When Moira was like this. . . she was best left to her own devices.

"Oliver is not your brother, Tommy," Moira said. "However. . . . I cannot deny that Malcolm and I have had _relations_ in the past. Robert and I did not always have a solid relationship, and he had a weakness for strong, beautiful women. One of those times was. . . just after Rebecca's funeral."

Tommy gaped at the two for a moment before his head began doing the math. After a moment, he stepped backward, and his gaze shifted to Thea, who looked disturbed, then her eyes widened. She swiveled her head to her mother. "N-No. It can't be true."

"I'm sorry, Thea," Moira said, her eyes moist. "Robert loved you dearly. . . but your father is Malcolm Merlyn. That is why I reacted the way I did to Tommy's comment about you being _hot_. A brother and sister. . . ." She trailed off.

Thea looked at Malcolm at Tommy, and felt like her head was going to explode for a moment. Then, as it all came crashing down on her, so did Thea. She fainted, and Tommy moved forward to grab her. He now realized why, even if his comments were in jest, he had never tried anything with her and always considered her like a sister. She _was_ his sister.

Quentin, for his part, was looking stunned. "Jesus, what is it with the one percent? D'you got nothing better to do then fuck around with each other for kicks?"

That was the wrong thing to say to an emotional Dark Archer.

_**A/N: Hope everyone liked the changes. I gave Slade more to say and gave him some revelations to give. So that should give an interesting dynamic. Every fic I've read with an antagonistic character being one of those involved is much better when the people reading/watching whatever are **_**aware**_** the character is an antagonist. **_

_**One thing I want to clarify: I don't give a crap about pairings. I have plans for stories that run the gamut as far as Oliver is concerned (Felicity, Laurel, Sara). In fact, the only pairing I sort of 'stick to' is Malcolm/Moira. These two were absolutely perfect for one another, IMO. **_

_**Next chapter: Malcolm's blow-out with Quentin, maybe some Merlyn-Queen bonding, and, after some debate, a much-needed conversation between a mentor and his student. **_


	5. Chapter 5: An Innocent Man

_**A/N: SLADE IS BACK DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND. I HAVE GIVEN HIM SOME NEW DIALOGUE AND INTROSPECTIONS. BEWARE OF SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON FINALE.**_

_**It took me a bit of work to find places for both Slade and Blood to contribute in the previous chapters. But I think I've managed it. **_

_**On the off-chance people are having issues with the amount of secrets coming out: we're talking about a group of **_**very**_** observant people; the least observant is Tommy, but quite frankly, I suspect he **_**always**_** knew who Oliver was but was being deliberately obtuse ala Quentin. **_

_**And now. . . . on with the story.**_

Chapter Five:

An Innocent Man

Quentin Lance had only a moment to realize just what he'd said and who he said it to before he was thrown from his seat and had a vicious kick delivered to his side courtesy of an angry Malcolm Merlyn. Tommy watched in horror as his father transformed into the man he had told them about, the man who was like Oliver. Quentin managed to roll away and delivered a kick up into Malcolm's groin. Malcolm ignored the pain and moved forward again. The sound of an arrow being fired filled the air, and a moment later, an arrow imbedded itself between the two men. Moments later, tear gas billowed out, and the two formerly-fighting men began to cough and stumble about.

"Now, now," said the voice of Oliver Queen from somewhere above them, "if you're going to act like toddlers fighting over a favorite toy, you might as well have all the trappings. Now, sit in your corners for a moment." A couple more arrows landed, and they turned out to be bolo arrows, which wrapped up Quentin and Malcolm in thin cords. Quentin cursed and Malcolm kept silent, intrigued by the trick arrow but furious that he hadn't been allowed to finish showing the ever-arrogant Detective Lance the error of his ways.

The green-hooded figure of Oliver Queen dropped down from an observation room above as the tear gas dissipated. The bow he was using folded up as he stowed it behind his waist and he took in the expressions of everyone present. "It's good to see you," he said, his eyes flicking over those present. "All of you. Now," he said, clapping his hands and moving to crouch between Malcolm and Quentin, who turned to look at him despite their positions. "Firstly: Mr. Lance, there is no such thing as a one-true love. I've learned that many times in my life; and I can tell you that acting that way will only bring you pain in the future. I saw that when you tried to win Dinah back." Here, Lance flinched back, before he realized Queen said he _saw_ that.

"I would never let you near my family after what you've done, Queen," Lance spat.

"Things change," Oliver said, before turning his attention to Malcolm, ignoring Quentin's sarcastic little huff; he had come to know the detective quite well when they worked together and knew that Quentin wouldn't believe it until he saw everything unfold. Oliver had to wonder how the man would react to the fact that Sara was alive, or that Slade had tried to kill Sara in the past. Not that there was much he could do; Slade was, despite his animosity to Oliver, first-and-foremost Oliver's mentor and brother. Many of Slade's teachings, Oliver had adhered to, though some of those had led to worse scenarios than if he had ignored them; which, of course, was what this entire gathering was all about: correcting those times.

Pinning Malcolm with a different look, one that the Dark Archer recognized as respectful animosity, Oliver said, "As for you, Merlyn. . . . history records us as great enemies and occasional allies, though only when the one person we both care for was put in danger." Malcolm's eyes flicked to his son and his daughter, and Oliver gave a minute nod. Malcolm focused back on Oliver as the younger man continued, "I will be honest with you, Malcolm: I offered you a place here only because I think you can be redeemed. But if you prove you won't, I'm sure that things will play out as they did before. Don't think you can trick us into believing you are ending the project but continue in secret. We have a great deal of technology now, including ways to detect deception. You will _not_ be allowed to leave this time with your memories intact if you can't pass those tests."

"Ah, and there it is," Malcolm said, amused. "Knowing future events, and getting to know the man you've become, is quite the attractive carrot. It would've needed a rather large stick to serve as it's opposite."

"Well, we're not about to let those who have served corrupted organizations or founded them in the past know about the future," Oliver replied. "Now, you and Quentin here can just lay and think on if you want to behave like actual adults instead of toddlers. Al-Owal would not have found your actions very becoming, now would he, Malcolm?" With that parting shot, which had Malcolm looking shocked at the name of his former mentor, Oliver stood and moved not to his mother, Laurel, Tommy, or even Thea, but to Slade Wilson. "We should talk," he said simply.

Slade nodded, gesturing to a quiet corner. The two men retreated there. "What game are you playing, kid?" Slade asked once they were there. "What's to stop me from killing the people here and keeping my promise before you _ever_ return to your beloved city?"

"Because despite your belief that everyone is in this life for themselves, _you_ still have a code of honor, a code I try to uphold by giving a chance to surrender to every person I confront," Oliver replied. "The man who trained me, even the man who tried to kill me on the _Amazo_, had a sense of honor to him. You won't do that because your honor wouldn't allow for wholesale massacre. While engaging me in a war, both psychological and physical, it would be different. . . . . but where you're interacting with them without being at war with me? No, Slade, I don't think even _you_ are that far gone." Here, Oliver stepped closer, and spoke very quietly. "And if you _are_, the man _I_ trained has an injection arrow filled with the cure aimed at you. He doesn't like you very much to begin with, Slade, so I wouldn't make any sudden movements."

Slade smirked and said, "Finally. You've learned your lessons. . ."

"I had a good teacher," Oliver replied, and patted Slade on the shoulder before turning to leave. Slade was quite sure Oliver didn't just mean on the Island.

Moira, shocked, said, "Oliver! Won't you talk to us?"

Oliver paused and waited a moment before saying, "What you've seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg. So much has happened, and I can't look at any of you without remembering what happened to each of you." With that rather foreboding comment, Oliver cut Malcolm and Quentin loose before leaving.

Slade watched the man go. The Kid had come far, and possessed an honor to him that Slade had tried to instill in him, but it was clear it was only after their parting of ways that Oliver had pushed himself to embrace that code.

It would be interesting to see how things played out.

Moira, scowling, turned to Tommy and began working with him to bring Thea around. She felt more than saw Malcolm coming up behind them. To an outsider, they looked like a family, and some came to realize that this group _were_ a family, however screwed up that might seem. The formidable but doting mother, the goofy older brother, the young, bratty sister, and the brooding, overprotective father; Oliver joining them in the past as a mirror image of Malcolm would paint a fairly formidable picture.

Thea slowly came back to consciousness and found her now-expanded family gathered around her. "Ow," she mumbled, pressing a hand to her temple.

"Are you alright, Thea?" Moira asked softly.

"Sure," Thea replied, shifting her weight so she was sitting, "if you don't count the fact I just found out that someone else is my father and the guy I've had a crush on is my brother." Tommy winced at that; he knew what it was like to have a crush on someone unattainable, after all.

Malcolm said, "Thea, I know you think of Robert as your father. I hope one day you can accept me as being your father, too. But I'm not going to ignore the fact that you're my daughter. Do you understand?"

"Sure, Mr. Mer-, erm, what am I supposed to call you?" she looked at him confusedly.

"For now, let's stick with Malcolm," said man replied.

"If this _touching_ scenario is over, perhaps we can continue with the reason we've all been brought here," Slade sneered. He may appreciate what the kid was trying to do, but he was _not_ going to just sit and listen to the soapy mess that was the Queen-Merlyn family. His right hand trembled as he formed it into a fist, but he kept his anger on a tight leash. He remembered Oliver's warning, and he knew the instant that he was no longer fueled by the Mirakuru, than Merlyn would be able to take him out if he threatened them in any way.

Malcolm fixed the one-eyed man with a look but nodded sharply. "He's right, we should continue," he said, and slowly, the others filtered back to their seats. Thea was still sandwiched between Laurel and Tommy.

Once everyone was back in their seats, the next set of memories began.

_Diggle awakens in the lair. Grunting, he moves to a sitting position. _

_Oliver, sitting, by his computer set up, turns and stands. "Hey."  
_

"_Oliver?" Diggle asks, his mind still somewhat confused. Oliver nods. Diggle examines the way Oliver is dressed. "You're that vigilante," he says disbelievingly. As Oliver tries to find the words to reply, Diggle's expression becomes less-genial and he takes a swing at Oliver. _

Quentin smirked at that, though he still wondered why Diggle hadn't just given his suspicions to the police yet.

_Oliver catches Diggle's swing easily and maneuvers around him. "Easy, Dig," he says as he backs off slightly. "You were poisoned."  
_

"_Son of a bitch," Diggle says, trying to hit him again. Oliver manages to keep him from landing any blows and pushes him away ever-so-slightly. _

"_I could have taken you anywhere, could have taken you home. I brought you here." Oliver gestures to the lair around them.  
_

"_You really did lose your mind on that island," Diggle says, his tone still one of disbelief and surprised anger.  
_

"_Found a couple things along the way," Oliver replies. _

_"Like what, archery classes?" Diggle says, the surprise and disbelief giving way to clear anger now. _

"_Clarity," Oliver rebuts. "Starling City. . . . is dying. It is being poisoned by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt, as long as they maintain their wealth and power."  
_

Sebastian Blood nodded to himself, and even Slade Wilson found himself thinking about what the Kid was saying. To bring justice to the corrupt, to those men like Edward Fyers and Anthony Ivo, that was something Slade could consider a worthy endeavor. For Sebastian, he felt vindicated by Oliver Queen's actions. If even the Queen family scion could take responsibility for such atrocities, than the others in the one percent had no ground to stand on. Sebastian glanced at Malcolm Merlyn and Moira Queen, wondering how they were handling Oliver's actions in light of the recent revelations of Thea Queen's paternity.

Malcolm found himself conflicted as he listened to Oliver's words. He had fought against the same things at first, of course, but Oliver had a different set of targets than Malcolm had had. The List was generated during Malcolm's second attempt to clean-up the city, where he worked with the others, like Robert and Frank. But times had changed, and Malcolm now used the corruption in the city to his advantage. But maybe, just maybe, Oliver's method would be the right one after all. _Besides_, Malcolm thought sourly, _continuation of the Undertaking will happen only _without_ the memories I have, but everyone else will have them. I'd be facing enemies I didn't even know I had._

"_What are you gonna do, take 'em all down by your lonesome?" Diggle replies. _

"_No," Oliver says. "I want you to join me." _

Glances were shot at Malcolm as it was revealed that he had been right, that Oliver was feeling out his 'bodyguard' as a potential ally.

_Diggle scoffs at this, and Oliver continues, "Special Forces out of Kandahar. It's perfect. You're a fellow soldier."  
_

"_Oliver, you're not a soldier," Diggle says, his stance defiant. "You're a criminal, and a murderer."_

"Hmm. . . . ." Slade hummed thoughtfully. He knew that sort of denial well. It had been that same sort of denial he had had when faced with Bill Wintergreen's betrayal. Refusal to accept what was in front of him. Only in the case of Mr. Diggle, he was refusing to accept Oliver's actions were right._  
_

_Oliver enters the mansion and begins to walk up the stairs, only to turn at Laurel's voice. "Where were you?" _

"Oh, boy," Thea said, and Tommy chuckled at that. There was a moment of awkwardness before Laurel broke it.

"What do you mean by that, Thea?" she asked pointedly.

"Oh, nothing," Thea replied innocently. "Just that you have this thing about lecturing _both_ my brothers when you think they're being buffoons." Tommy pouted at that to sell the act. The group were amused by the camaraderie of the now-revealed siblings. But in truth, it wasn't _that hard_ of an adjustment to make. Finding out that their parents had slept together _after_ the funeral of the older one's own mother. . . . that was something else to work through entirely.

"_What- Oliver stops upon realizing whose talking and asks, "What are you doing here? _

"_I heard about the shooting, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."  
_

"_You did?" Oliver asks quietly. _

"_Yeah," Laurel replies, her tone taking on a disapproving tone. "I knocked on the door, and I found a family terrified for you. They had no idea where you were." Oliver lets out a soft, exasperated groan at Laurel's lecturing tone, and she continues, apparently incensed by this. "Oliver, are you so self-centered that you don't think that people who care about you are gonna wonder where you are after you all got shot at?" _

Laurel pinched her nose. "Whereas if I knew he was across the street duking it out with the shooter I'd be telling him he needs let us know what he's doing."

_Oliver, looking chastised, says, "You're right."  
_

"_I made peace with your selfishness a long time ago, but Moira, Thea, and Walter, they don't deserve that. They deserve better, someone who doesn't care only about himself." Laurel turns to go.  
_

_Oliver stops her briefly to say, "Laurel, thank you for coming."  
_

_She turns to face him again. "I care about the lives of other people, Oliver. Maybe you should try it sometime." She leaves the mansion._

Laurel winced, and wondered aloud, "He _really_ must've had a time of it on that Island, learning to conceal things." She glanced over at Slade Wilson, who smirked. "The old Ollie would have had a hard time not telling me that I'm being blind and showing me his little. . . . Arrowcave." _  
_

"_Oh, man," Oliver sighs. He turns and finds Thea standing nearby.  
_

"_That was harsh," Thea says, coming to stand nearer to him. "You okay?" _

"_Sure," Oliver says, giving his sister a tight smile. "Second time tonight that a friend of mine has taken me to the woodshed. Kind of tires you out. Good night."  
_

"_Good night."  
_

_In a flashback, Yao Fei returns with a dead bird and a bird in a cage, which he sets in front of Oliver. "Shengcún."  
_

Malcolm tilted his head; he knew that word.

Slade recalled Oliver telling Shado that his first meal on the island was a pheasant that Yao Fei had cooked for him.

"_What am I supposed to do with that?" Oliver asks. _

"_Shengcún," Yao Fei replies, gesturing to the bird.  
_

"_Does that mean 'bird'?" _

Malcolm shakes his head. Poor Oliver. . . . he had been so unprepared for the real world, and now he would be forced to endure five years of hell. _He's just like Tommy would be,_ a nasty little voice that many would call a conscience whispered into Malcolm's head. He ruthlessly shut it away, not wanting to consider that he might lose his son the way he lost Rebecca.

"_Shengcún!" _

"_I don't speak Chinese!" Oliver shouts at the man in frustration, before looking at the picture of Laurel with an expression of deep regret. "I'm sorry, Laurel," he mutters. "I'm so sorry." _

Laurel felt a stab of pain shoot through her at that. She knew that moping face, it was one of the things she loved about Ollie. Not that the new Ollie was any less handsome. . . . he just had issues. Serious issues, like the fact he liked to kill people, even if they were the types of people who would step on the throat of the people of the Glades.

_Oliver awakens, and heads downstairs where he finds Thea watching TV. _

_A reporter on the screen is reporting on the Peter Declan case. "There were no signs of forced entry or any evidence of a struggle, but, hours later, the police found that the bloodstained kitchen knife in the trunk. . . ." _

Malcolm narrowed his eyes in thought. He had always found that crime suspicious, but as Jason Brodeur was among those he needed for the new Undertaking to work, he hadn't been able to investigate it. He wouldn't have been able to stop himself, if he knew for sure; it would've reminded him too much of Rebecca.

"_Couldn't sleep, either?" _

"_No."  
_

"_Forensic analysis verified. . . ." _

"_What are you watching?" Oliver asks. _

"_Peter Declan." As the report continues, Oliver shakes his head, showing he hasn't gotten around to that part of catching up yet. "This guy killed his wife in their baby's room. Psycho."  
_

_On the screen, footage of Declan in a prison interrogation room is being played. "Camille was everything to me. I couldn't kill her any more than I could kill myself."  
_

_Thea sighs, and shuts off the TV before turning to look at her brother. "So why can't you sleep?" _

"_Bad dreams."  
_

"_About?" Thea prompts. _

"_Laurel."  
_

"Try again, Ollie," Thea muttered to herself. Her brother was not giving up on his 'keep everyone in the dark' shtick. "He even tries that when he comes back I'm going to bug the crap out of him." Sitting next to her, Tommy grinned. It'd be kinda fun to tag-team Oliver.

"_So why don't you make a play?" Thea asks. "I mean, she did come over here just to make sure you didn't get shot."  
_

"_There are reasons," Oliver insists.  
_

_Thea's having none of it, as evidenced by her next words. "Mm, what are they? Besides you sleeping with her sister and her sister dying and her father hating your guts and you basically being a jerk to everybody since you've been back?" _

Laurel snickered and said, "Well, that about sums it up." Thea returned the smile she got with a smirk.

Slade rolled his eye, than caught himself. _I stay around these people long enough, I'll start talking like them, _he thought snarkily.

"_Those are the top ones," Oliver says. For a moment, he looks like he's debating something before he says, "I know that it might not seem like it sometimes, but I'm not the same person I used to be."  
_

"_So show her," Thea replies. "Be yourself." At Oliver's look of consternation, Thea clarifies, "I mean, your new self." _

"Oh, _no_," Quentin said, and pointed his finger at Laurel, who immediately looked defensive. "You are _not _hanging around with Queen's green-leather fetish alter ego!"

Laughter could be heard from above them, and they saw a figure watching them up above.

"Who is that?" Thea asked.

"That, Ms. Merlyn," replied Slade with a hint of a smirk, "is your brother's insurance policy." He waved at the man in the alcove above them.

_Oliver looks thoughtful at this.  
_

_The next morning, Oliver comes into the family room of the Queen Mansion to find his mother speaking with an unknown. Moira notices Oliver and asks, "How did you sleep?" _

"_Just fine, thank you," Oliver lies with a practiced grin before turning to the newcomer._

"Oh, this is going to be tiresome," Moira said, rubbing her temple, "getting him to open up."

"He will, eventually," Malcolm replied softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Together, Moira, we can all help him." Moira nodded, thanking Malcolm with her eyes.

"_We have a visitor."  
_

"_Hmm," Moira replies. "Mr. Diggle's replacement."  
_

"_Replacement?" Oliver questions, looking semi-irritated. _

"_Yes," Moira replied, looking up at her son. "He tendered his resignation this morning."  
_

"_Did he say why?" _

"_He said he didn't approve of the way you spend your evenings," Moira replied, while continuing to look through the paper. She then pinned her son with a look. "Particularly given that they always begin with you ditching him."  
_

"_Hi," Oliver said, moving to shake the newcomer's hand.  
_

"_Mr. Queen, Rob Scott," the somewhat enthusiastic man replies. "I'll be your new body man."  
_

"_That's a firm grip you got there, Rob," Oliver replies.  
_

"_That's 5 years SWAT with Monument Point M.C.U.," Rob says.  
_

"_I feel safer already," Oliver replies._

_Moira, looking in the direction of the television, says, "Ah, thank God we don't have to hear about this awful man anymore." Oliver, turning to see that it's another report about Peter Declan, turns up the volume.  
_

Malcolm paid close attention once again.

_The reporter is saying, "Declan's execution is set for midnight 2 days from now. Camille Declan's former employer, Jason Brodeur, released a statement saying, quote, 'I hope this gives Camille the peace she deserves.'" _

"_Jason Brodeur?" Oliver repeats quietly. _

Laurel glances up, as does Quentin, both Lances narrowing their eyes. What was this about?

"_What?" _

"_The dead wife worked for Jason Brodeur," Oliver replied, gesturing to the screen.  
_

_Moira says, "Apparently so," as she opens her paper again. Then, clearly suspicious, she asks, "What- why?" _

"_No reason," Oliver replies, before turning to Rob._

"Moira, if you can't tell he's lying there, I'll be very surprised," Malcolm said, looking at the woman next to him.

"He may have changed, but I know my son, Malcolm," Moira replied. "He may think he's fooling me, but I would know he's up to something. Though I doubt I know he is the Hood, as they're calling him."

"_Say, Rob, I want to go into town. Could you please get the car for me?" _

"_No offense, Mr. Queen, but I have been filled in on your tendency to slip the leash. If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer keeping you in my sights at all times."_

_"We're 20 miles from the city," Oliver replies, amused. "If you don't drive me, how else am I gonna get there?" He gives a small nod as Rob does the same, with a whispered, "Right." Rob leaves to get the car, and Oliver turns to his mother. "I like him," he says before walking off. Moira is morbidly amused, clearly aware her son is about to pull another stunt.  
_

Moira glanced at Malcolm, who nodded with a smile, acknowledging she had been right.

_Outside the mansion, Rob is waiting by the car when Oliver blasts past him on the bike, waving as he does so. Rob waves at him for a moment, then realizes who it is and yells, "Hey!" _

Tommy snickered.

_Oliver can be seen researching Peter Declan at the lair. "They say Peter Declan murdered his wife in cold blood. He had no alibi, and all the evidence pointed toward him. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, an open-and-shut case, except for one thing." Oliver picks up the List. "Declan's wife Camille worked for Jason Brodeur. And Jason Brodeur is on the list." Oliver opens the book, revealing Brodeur's name.  
_

Laurel began piecing together a defense she could use for Peter Declan if what Oliver was saying was true. Quentin could see this, and groaned.

_Jason Brodeur can be seen meeting with a Fixer. "Mr. Brodeur," the Fixer says.  
_

"_Admiring your handiwork?" Brodeur asks._

"So, he did frame Declan," Malcolm sighed.

"You knew?" Quentin asked, despite himself.

"I suspected," Malcolm replied. "But if I had investigated, Detective. . . . well, I don't think I need to explain what would have happened."

"_You should have just let me kill both of 'em," the Fixer replies evenly.  
_

"_Peter Declan is worth more alive," Brodeur disagrees. "'Husband kills wife' is a much better headline than 'whistle-blower uncovers toxic dumping,' don't you think? Either way, 48 hours, all this'll be over."  
_

_At the lair, Oliver is forging a new set of arrows "The odds are good that Brodeur is involved in this woman's murder, which means an innocent man is facing execution." Oliver pulls the picture of Laurel from out of the List. "He'll need a good attorney."  
_

"Damn it," Quentin hissed under his breath.

Thea and Tommy were giving identical smirks towards Laurel, who looked sheepish and gratified that Oliver would come to her, even if she knew he wouldn't reveal himself.

_At CNRI, Laurel is getting ready to leave as Joanna stops by. "So I take it there's absolutely no point in asking if you'd like to grab a drink?" _

"_I can't," Laurel replies. "I have to go over transcripts for the Fernands case."  
_

_Joanna, looking and sounding exasperated, says, "You know, if you go somewhere that's not work or your home, your odds of meeting someone increase by, like, a gazillion percent."  
_

"_Oh, that's not true," Laurel replies with a smirk. "I could still get mugged on the way home."  
_

"_In that case, I hope he's cute and single," Joanna yells after Laurel as the other woman walks away.  
_

"_Good night, Joanna," she replies, smiling.  
_

_When Laurel enters her apartment, she finds the power out and hears the wind blowing inside the apartment She moves to a desk and, hearing a creak behind her, pulls out a pistol from it, aiming the weapon at Oliver, whose in his Hood gear. He activates a voice changer before saying, "Hello, Laurel."_

Quentin rubbed his temples. _I will _not _lock my daughter in a cell, I will _not_ lock my daughter in a cell, _he chanted in his head. _  
_

"_Don't move!" Laurel replies. _

"_I'm not gonna hurt you," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Stay back," Laurel replies, keeping the gun steady. "My father's a cop. You are making a huge mistake."  
_

"_I'm not the person you think I am," Oliver replies, moving closer, "and I need your help. Peter Declan is gonna be executed in 48 hours. I think he's innocent. Declan's wife was gonna blow the whistle on Jason Brodeur. Brodeur had her murdered."  
_

"_There are a thousand lawyers in Starling City. Why me?" _

"Because he's in love with you," Thea interjected, and Tommy found he wasn't wincing as much. Odd. . . .

"_We're both trying to help," Oliver replies, stepping close enough to push down the gun.  
_

"_What makes you sure I'm gonna help you?" Laurel replies. _

_Now behind Laurel, Oliver says, "Because I know you'd do anything to save the life of an innocent man."  
_

_At Iron Heights Prison, Laurel is meeting with Declan. "A jury has charged you as guilty, Mr. Declan."  
_

"_The evidence was stacked against me, but I didn't kill my wife. I didn't take my daughter's mother from her," Declan replies earnestly.  
_

_Laurel, looking through the file, says, "The murder weapon was a knife from your kitchen with your prints on it. It was found, along with Camille's blood, in the trunk of your car. Your neighbors said they heard an argument that night." She is simply stating the facts of the case, which Declan can clearly see as evidenced by his calm reply.  
_

"_We had a knockdown fight over Jason Brodeur. Camille worked for him, and his company had been dumping toxic waste into the Glades. Now, Camille told me that she'd gone and told a supervisor about it. I was afraid for my family's safety." Here, Declan's voice becomes a bit more emotional. "And we argued very loudly, yes. Izzy started crying, so Camille went and stayed in her room. In the morning, I went to apologize, and that's when I found her. So I just grabbed Izzy, and I ran outside, and I called 911." He looks at Laurel with an expression that screams that he is being truthful. "I'm innocent, Ms. Lance."  
_

"Oh, this is gonna kill me," Quentin muttered.

"What's going to kill you, Dad?" Laurel asked, giving her father a look.

"You working with _Queen_ outside the law, especially since we both know you won't listen to me," Quentin replied stiffly. Laurel winced, knowing her father was right, but he didn't see the things that went on in the Glades; he didn't come up against people who were rich and powerful enough to buy their way out of trouble. Laurel had come up against more than a handful since she started at CNRI.

_Moira enters Walter's office at Queen Consolidated and, smiling, says, "Well, it looks like someone forgot a lunch date with his wife."  
_

"_What do you mean? Lunch isn't for another—" Walter checks his watch and takes off his glasses. "I'm so sorry."  
_

"_It's all right," Moira replies, laughing. "The restaurant is holding our table." Looking at the paperwork in front of Walter, she asks, "Is there something wrong?" _

"_Compliance department has tagged something, $2.6 million withdrawal from one of our Vancouver subsidiaries."  
_

Moira looked thoughtful for a moment, then froze. She knew what that was; she knew that this would not go over well with _anyone_ in the room, other than perhaps Mr. Wilson, who didn't seem to care either way about how Oliver ended up on the Island. She still wondered what Wilson meant when he said Oliver was his friend and that he had betrayed him. Oliver had spoken with Wilson earlier, and it hadn't seemed confrontational, until Wilson had mentioned that the man above them was Oliver's insurance policy against him.

_Moira, looking nervous for a millisecond before appearing curious, asks, "What-you mean- are you saying that someone embezzled $2.6 million from the company?" _

"_Well, it's probably a bookkeeping error, but compliance is understandably worried about an IRS audit," Walter replies.  
_

"_Hmm," Moira replies, looking at the paperwork.  
_

"_But don't worry," Walter replies, grabbing his backet. "I'm sure it's nothing. Come on. We're gonna be late." Walter and Moira leave, though Moira casts one last glance at the files.  
_

Quentin's eyes narrowed. What was the Ice Queen hiding?

_At the precinct where Quentin works, he comes up to Laurel with the file on the Declan case. "Well, I wasn't the lead on this, but from what I recall, we had fingerprints. We had blood. We got motive, everything," he says, showing the file to Laurel.  
_

"_Brodeur seems like the type of guy with resources needed to frame someone," Laurel points out.  
_

_Quentin, sighing, replies, "Laurel, in 24 hours, Peter Declan is lying down with a needle in his arm, and he's not getting up. If I thought for a second we didn't have the right guy, do you think there's anything else I'd be doing right now except trying to get at what really happened?" _

"_Declan said his wife went to her supervisor with allegations that Brodeur was dumping toxic waste," Laurel replies.  
_

_Quentin, nodding, says, "Yeah, but that supervisor, he said that never happened.  
Let me see." He looks through the file. "What was his name? Here you go.  
Istook, Matt Istook. He said he didn't even see Camille that day. Happy now?" _

"_Yes," Laurel replies, before turning to leave.  
_

_Quentin calls out, "You know, I thought it'd be a cold day in hell before you started defending criminals."  
_

_Laurel, turning back, gives her father a smile as she replies, "I'm not so sure Declan's a criminal. Like you said, he's on a clock. Can't leave any stone unturned."  
_

_As Laurel leaves, Lance turns and breaths out a sigh of exasperation. "Oh, yeah."  
_

"What was _that_ about?" Laurel asked her father.

Quentin sighed and said, "Because I know how you feel about people who might be innocent. And I also know once you find something, you don't stop until you follow the trail to the very end. You got that from me."

Laurel nodded, seeing what her father meant. Malcolm, Slade, and Sebastian all made a mental note to never raise Laurel's suspicion after this 'endeavor' of the future Oliver's. That, or they'd have to take her out before they made the move; her _and_ her father.

_Diggle is at his sister-in-law's workplace and she comes up to him with some food. "So when are you gonna tell me?" _

"_Hmm?" Diggle replies absent-mindedly. _

"_About what happened to your arm," Carly replies pointedly.  
_

"_Oh, it's my shoulder, and it's-it's fine," Diggle replies.  
_

"_I knew that Queen guy was trouble," Carly says, shaking her head.  
_

"_Hey, I never said this happened protecting Queen," Diggle says, trying to cover for Oliver despite not working for him anymore.  
_

"Again, that is one _loyal_ guy," Tommy whistled.

Malcolm nodded approvingly. "Yes, he is. It will be good for Oliver to have someone like that to depend on. If the plan of the Oliver that brought us here works out, he should have more than just Mr. Diggle."

Tommy sighed. He could see now why his father was approving of Oliver; the two men were the same, willing to go outside the law to find justice. Tommy wondered if his father had ever found the man that killed his mother. Maybe he should ask him when they retired for the night.

"_Oh, yeah?" Carly says skeptically. "Then what's he doing here?" Diggle looks surprised, and Carly gestures to the door. _

_At the door, Oliver and Rob enter. Rob performs a cursory scan of the room before nodding to Oliver and saying, "Area is secure, sir."  
_

"Well, he's not trying to make up for something," Tommy said dryly, and was rewarded with a chuckle from his father and a laugh each from Thea and Laurel. Even Slade and Quentin smirked at that; they each knew men like that in their respective lines of work. Moira, as the stately matriarch she was, attempted to remain stoic and slightly disapproving, but even she recognized the need for humor.

"_Thank you very much, Rob," Oliver replies, voice tinted with sarcasm. He walks up to Diggle and Carly. "Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly," he says, smiling. "I'm Oliver Queen."  
_

"_I know who you are," Carly replies.  
_

"_No, you really don't," Diggle scoffs out.  
_

_Oliver takes a seat across from Diggle as Carly walks away. "I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when I got home." His expression turns into one of vindication. "I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me. So have you considered my offer?" _

"_Offer?" Diggle scoffs. "That's one hell of a way to put it."_

"_It is an offer," Oliver replies. "It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military."  
_

"_Please," Diggle replies cynically. "You were born with a platinum spoon in your mouth, Queen. What, you spent 5 years on an island with no room service, and suddenly you found religion?" He scoffs again. _

_Oliver pulls out the List and shows it to Diggle, who looks up at him for an explanation. "This was my father's. I found it when I buried him."  
_

"_I thought you said your father died when the boat went down," Diggle replies.  
_

"_We both made it to a life raft, but there wasn't enough food and water for both of us, so he shot himself in the head." _

_Diggle lets out a soft, "My God."  
_

_Oliver, ignoring this, continues, "And as much as he was doing it to give me a chance to survive, I believe that he was also atoning for his sins. I need to right the wrongs done by my family, and I'm offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours."  
_

Malcolm frowned. What did Oliver mean by that?

_Diggle, looking suspicious, asks, "Oliver, what are you talking about?" _

"_The police never caught your brother's shooter," Oliver replies.  
_

_Diggle, getting angry, points at Oliver. "Hey, you leave Andy out of this!"  
_

"_The bullets were laced with curare. That's Floyd Lawton's M.O. He is the sniper . . . . that I stopped."  
_

Malcolm shook his head. "Mr. Diggle is definitely going to join Oliver now, if only out of gratitude."

"Agreed," Slade said, eying the two men on the screen thoughtfully. Despite their stand-offish nature, he could see the potential they had to be great friends. . . . just as he and Oliver had had before Ivo and the Lance bitch. Well, the _younger_ Lance bitch, Slade amended as he glanced at Laurel, who looked unnerved by the man she only knew to hate Oliver Queen with a passion.

"_Are you trying to tell me that you took down Andy's killer?" Diggle asks, looking stunned. _

"_I'm-I'm giving you the chance, a chance to help other people's families," Oliver replies softly. He looks out at the city streets through the glass for a moment before turning back to Diggle. "Do you remember when the people in this city helped each other? They can't do that anymore, because a group of people, people like my father, they see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats. It does need to stop, and if it's not gonna be the courts and it's not gonna be the cops Then it's gonna be me." _

Moira felt a swell of pride rise in her at her son's words. He was a better man than his father; Moira knew that her son had a strength to him, but it had been stifled due to his upbringing. Moira knew she had been guilty of helping to stifle that, and she knew that that was why the Oliver of now had not brought them forward from _before_ the sinking of the _Gambit_. For him to become the man he needed to be. . . . he would need to endure the Island.

Laurel also felt a swell of pride, knowing that _this _was the Oliver Queen she had always loved, always known was inside the spoiled playboy.

Malcolm felt conflicted, but also proud that Oliver had the conviction his father hadn't. If things worked out as the future Oliver hoped, Malcolm could see him and the Oliver they would be supporting forming quite the bond; and with any luck, they could eventually involve Tommy and perhaps Thea. Moira, of course, was already party to Malcolm's desire to see the Glades rebuilt.

Slade nodded approvingly to himself at the Kid's words. He finally had a conviction to do more than help himself.

Thea listened to her brother's words and found herself partly-conflicted because she knew the man she considered her father, Robert Queen, had been among those Oliver now fought.

Sebastian Blood found himself nodding along with what Oliver was saying. Yes, Oliver Queen understood strength, and understood that to help the people of the Glades, sacrifices would have to be made; sacrifices like following the letter of the law.

The occupants of the room who were feeling conflicted at these words were, of course, Quentin Lance and Tommy Merlyn. Tommy was still reconciling the guy who was practically his brother with the man who was taking the fight to the powerful and corrupt of Starling City.

As for Quentin, he was (against his will, mind you!) feeling conflicted because he was actually growing to _respect_ Queen and his antics. He knew his daughter thought him a slave to the law, but Quentin had never found a situation on his desk that couldn't be solved by tenacious police work.

_Oliver begins to stand, and stoops low to whisper, "And, I hope, you." Exiting the booth, Rob is immediately there like a little puppy. "I'm gonna go to the washroom, Rob," Oliver tells the man, and leaves the two bodyguards with one another.  
_

Tommy snickered.

_Diggle is clearly considering Oliver's offer seriously now. Looking up at Rob, he smirks slightly and gestures to the bathroom. "Oh, that boy's long gone, man." He makes a gesture like a rocket. "Phew." Rob looks at him, then at the bathroom, irritated. _

Tommy wasn't the only one snickering this time.

_At the Queen Mansion, Walter is going over documents as Moira enters. "You still following the money trail?" _

"_Mm-hmm," Walter hums in response.  
_

"_Don't we have accountants for that sort of thing?" Moira replies curiously. _

"_They're being singularly ineffective in this instance," Walter replies, looking disappointed in their accountants.  
_

"_Well, then it's fortunate that I've solved the mystery," Moira replies, setting her drink down as Walter looks up. "I think I'm the culprit." At Walter's look of surprise, she says, "2.6 million is a rather specific figure. That's the exact amount the company invested in a friend's start-up venture three years ago." Walter chuckles as Moira continues, "I will call accounting. They'll clean it all up, then there's nothing to worry about." _

"_Okay," Walter replies. Moira leaves the room, not noticing Walter's suspicious glance between her and the papers in front of him.  
_

"Oh, dear," Moira said softly, and Malcolm grimaced. He had a suspicion Moira had been using that money for something nefarious, though he wondered why she hadn't asked him for help. Well, he could help her now, he resolved, and he placed a hand on her leg reassuringly. She accepted it this time.

_At CNRI, Joanna comes up to Laurel. "You really are putting a lot of hours into this Declan thing. You actually think he's innocent."  
_

"_Someone does," Laurel replies, still looking through a file in her hands.  
_

"_So you said," Joanna says, "but you didn't say who."  
_

_Laurel looks around nervously before coming up to Joanna and saying softly, "The guardian angel."  
_

Quentin scowled at that nickname. Queen was _no angel_.

_Joanna, folding her arms, moves her face closer to Laurel and says, "The guy in the hood? Look, you're- you're kidding."  
_

_Laurel shakes her and says, "He tracked me down and asked me to look into the Declan case."  
_

"_But you've met him?" _

_Laurel nods and says, "But he goes against everything that I was ever taught to believe in. He breaks the law and God knows what else."  
_

"Necks," Tommy replied helpfully, earning a scathing look from Laurel.

"_How are you not afraid that he is gonna do God knows what to you?" Joanna asks. _

"_He won't," Laurel replies. At Joanna's skeptical look, she continues, "I don't know. I can feel it."  
_

_Joanna sighs exasperatedly and says, "You know, when I told you to meet someone, this is far, far away from what I meant."  
_

_On a rooftop in the city, Oliver is meeting with Laurel as the Hood. _

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to become a common occurrence?" Laurel asked half-heartedly.

"Because you're attracted to Ollie, no matter what he looks like," Thea quipped, and Tommy and her shared a commiserating smirk as Laurel eyed the two of them suspiciously. She had thought Tommy and Oliver were bad; but she was beginning to think the _Merlyn duo_ as she was calling them in her head were actually worse because they were _actual_ siblings instead of the 'brothers in all but blood' thing that Oliver and Tommy had had going.

_Laurel says, "I got your message. Is there a reason we can't do this face to face?" _

"_You've met with Peter Declan," Oliver says.  
_

"_You were right," Laurel replies. "He might be innocent. Declan said his wife blew the whistle on Brodeur the day she was murdered."  
_

"_Then we need to get whoever she told about Brodeur to testify," Oliver replies.  
_

"_He already has," Laurel says, and Oliver turns his attention to her. "Matt Istook, Camille's supervisor. Only, he says that she didn't say a word to him."  
_

"_He could be lying," Oliver says.  
_

"_Well, if he is, then he's very convincing. He had the jury and police believing him." _

"_He hasn't been questioned by me."_

"Oh, hell," Quentin muttered. _  
_

_Laurel stepped closer. "I didn't become a lawyer to break the law or hurt anybody."_

"That's right, baby, give him the lecture," Quentin muttered again. No one bothered to tell him that he was talking to a machine playing memories. Let him live in his delusions. _  
_

_Oliver, turned away from Laurel, replies, "I do what's necessary, what people like Peter Declan need."  
_

"_If what you're doing isn't wrong. . . . Then why are you hiding your face with a hood?" Laurel asks. _

_Oliver's face is clearly emotional as he replies, "To protect the ones I care about."_

"He needs a better disguise than just the Hood," Tommy suddenly said. At the looks he was getting, he said, "Oh, come on, if anyone looked _straight at him_ instead of him doing this whole head-tilting thing, they could see passed the weird grease paint and recognize him in an instant."

Malcolm nodded to himself and said, "Good observation, Tommy," he praised his son. "Perhaps you should be the one to broach that with Oliver?" At that, Tommy looked startled. Malcolm smirked, "Come now, son, you're not afraid of Oliver, are you?"

Tommy shook his head and muttered something that was probably not meant to be picked up, but was heard nonetheless: "Says the man who probably has more in common with Oliver than I do now."

Malcolm felt a stab of pain at that. He vowed to speak with Tommy as soon as he could. _  
_

"_That sounds lonely," Laurel replies, clearly sympathetic to the type of life the Hood must live.  
_

"_It can be," Oliver replies, "But not today." Oliver pulls an arrow out and fires it, to reveal it's a 'grappling arrow'. He swings off of the roof. Laurel is seen looking a mixture of impressed, and happy to see someone fighting for what's right.  
_

_At Queen Consolidated, Felicity Smoak comes out of the elevator, looking irritated. Entering Walter's office, she asks, "I've got one question. Why am I being fired?" _

"Now Walter is using this woman?" Moira said, mostly to herself. "Who _is_ she? Not the head of the department, I know that much. . . ."

Malcolm noticed Moira's muttering and likewise paid attention.

_Walter, looking mildly amused, replies, "Ms. Smoak, isn't it?" _

_Yes," Felicity replies. "And I am without a doubt the single most valuable member of your technical division. That's including my so-called 'supervisor'. Letting me go would be a major error for this company."  
_

"_I agree," Walter replies, "which is why you're not being fired."  
_

"If there is one thing that Walter is very good at, it's spotting talent," Malcolm said. "If he agrees with Ms. Smoak, I think that what she said is more than accurate. I suspect the only reason she's not head of the IT department is she likely hates bureaucracy."

In another part of the station, Barry Allen handed money to Oliver Queen, who had bet him that Merlyn would spot that quirk of Felicity's very quickly. If Barry had ever witnessed Felicity's hatred of such from those early days when she had become Oliver's Executive Assistant. . . . well, Oliver still winced whenever he thought about that.

_Felicity, now looking a bit flustered, replies, "Uh, I assumed when you brought me up here, it was because It's because. . . ." She makes a 'slit throat' gesture meant to signify her being cut from employment. _

Tommy chuckled at this.

"_I wanted you to look into something for me," Walter replies, handing Felicity the paperwork. "A variance of $2.6 million on a failed investment from 3 years ago. It was authorized by my wife. I was hoping you could find out some of the details of the transaction for me."_

Moira closed her eyes. This woman was obviously very capable, so the likelihood that she would find out not only about Tempest, but the warehouse as well, was a certainty._  
_

"_Find out?" _

" _Dig up. . . . discreetly," Walter replies.  
_

_Felicity, smiling, says, "I'm your girl." She turns to leave. At the door she turns and says awkwardly, "I mean, I'm not your girl. I wasn't making a pass at you." She turns to go, then turns back and says, "Thank you for not firing me." She leaves, and Walter is visibly amused by the conversation.  
_

_Matt Istook is walking to his car and turns off the alarm. As he begins opening the door, a dart hits him in the neck. He touches his neck for a moment before falling to the ground.  
_

_Istook wakes up, his arm tied to a railroad spike with a chain. He groans as he rolls to his knees. "Matt Istook," Oliver says, as he steps onto the rails.  
_

_Istook, looking freaked out, cries out, "You're him, that hood guy. You're the guy that's been terrorizing the city."  
_

"_Peter Declan," Oliver says, "your lies helped put him on death row. Now, either it's time to tell me the truth, or it's time for the 10:15 to Blüdhaven."  
_

"Ah, intimidation," Malcolm said, smiling slightly. He cocks his head. "And a train's on the way. Excellent. This will be a fast interrogation." He received some startled looks at that, but ignored them. He knew men like Matt Istook helped men like Brodeur, and they were even worse scum in his opinion because they actively contributed to the criminal antics of their bosses.

_Stammering, Istook says, "O-okay. Okay, I- Brodeur paid me to- to say that Camille never spoke to me, but I didn't have anything to do with her death. Oh, God, please. I'll do anything. Y-you could have the file."  
_

"_What file?" _

"_Camille gave me a file of evidence against Jason Brodeur," Istook replies.  
_

"_Where is it?!" _

"_Let me go, and I'll tell you," Istook replies desperately. Oliver steps off the tracks, and a train whistle can be heard getting closer. The train is visible now. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't go! It's in my desk! The file, it's in my desk at the office! You can have it! Get me out of here!" Oliver fires an arrow that cuts through the chain and Istook is able to jump out of the way, on the opposite side of the tracks from Oliver. When the train has finished passing by, Oliver is nowhere to be seen. _

_In a flashback, Yao Fei is cooking a meal of his own. The pheasant is still in the cage, chirping away. Oliver moves closer. "What is that? I'm so hungry. It smells really good." Oliver moves to touch the cooking food, and Yao Fei slaps his hand away. "Aah! Hey, fine. Don't share."  
_

_Yao Fei gestures to the chirping bird and gestures to snap its neck. "Shengcún."  
_

_Oliver replies, "I'm not gonna kill the bird."  
_

"_Shengcún!" Yao Fei shouts again.  
_

_At CNRI, Laurel is working late. The lights shut off, and a file is thrown onto the desk in front of her. Oliver says, "Compliments of Matt Istook."  
_

_Laurel, looking through the file, asks, "What's in here?" _

"_Leverage on Jason Brodeur, enough to help save Peter Declan's life," Oliver replies.  
_

"_As an attorney, I never would have gotten a file like this," Laurel admits. "I always thought the law was sacred, I-it fixed everything."  
_

"_And now, Laurel? Now what do you think?" _

"_I think there's too many people in this city who only care about themselves people who are selfish. I think they need someone who cares about the lives of other people someone like you."_

Quentin rubbed his temples and again wondered what he had done to piss Fate off that both his girls ended up liking a guy who was first, a playboy and now, a vigilante.

_Oliver smiles before leaving.  
_

_Returning to the Queen Mansion, Oliver is still smiling and Thea notices. "Oh, my God. What is wrong with your face? What do you mean? There's something really weird on it, like this thing with your mouth. It-it looks like it's in the shape of a smile."  
_

_Oliver, chuckling, says, "That's cute."  
_

"_So, why are you grinning?" Thea inquires. _

"_I took your advice with Laurel to be myself." At Thea's look of 'details, man, details!', Oliver continues, "And. . . It's helping."  
_

_Thea, smirking, says, "Got mad relationship skills, bro. Let me know if you need trendy places to propose." _

_As Thea walks past him to the stairs, Oliver says, "I think you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself."  
_

"_Mm," Thea replies.  
_

"_Little bit," Oliver reiterates, gesturing with his hand. _

Laurel smirked at this, then thought about something that made her shudder theatrically. "Laurel?" Quentin asked.

"Well, Ollie's still got enough of his old personality to play us all for fools, right," she said. At the nods she received, she said, "Imagine him and these two working in concert." She jerked her thumb at the Merlyn duo, who looked amused then thoughtful. Quentin shuddered; he had enough problems with just _one_ of those three half the time. If it wasn't Merlyn Jr. banging everything with a skirt (well, that was clearly female at any rate), it was bratty Thea Merlyn-Queen doing her best to emulate _both_ her idiot brothers.

_The door to the mansion opens as Thea begins heading up the stairs, and Rob enters, looking winded and just a bit irritated. "Rob," Oliver says, smiling. "You gotta keep up."  
_

_At CNRI, Laurel is looking through the evidence, double-checking things on the computer, when her father comes in. "Hey, you look busy," Quentin says. He gestures to the file and says, "Is that the Declan case?" Laurel nods. "You know, it was a funny development on Matt Istook." Laurel looks just a bit nervous now. "He, uh, filed a police report. He said the Hood harassed him last night. And that's funny, because I gave my daughter Istook's name."  
_

"_Dad—" Laurel tries to say. _

"_He's a vigilante," Quentin hisses in anger. "He's a damn criminal, and you working with him, that makes you an accessory."  
_

"_I am trying to save an innocent man's life," Laurel rebukes.  
_

"_No," Quentin says, looking shocked that his daughter isn't even bothering to deny it. "You're breaking the law."  
_

_Laurel, looking a bit irritated, says, "Well, I wouldn't have to if the police would have done their job right in the first place."  
_

_Quentin looks hurt for a moment before saying, "I asked you how you got this case. You lied to me straight to my face, eh? I thought you and I didn't do that. Guess I was wrong." He leaves, and Laurel looks a bit guilty.  
_

_At the courthouse, Laurel is speaking/arguing with a judge. "The mere existence of the file proves that Mr. Istook perjured himself for Jason Brodeur's benefit."  
_

"_That's slander," another attorney says as he enters, with Brodeur in tow. "Jared Swanstrom, Your Honor," he introduces himself. "I represent Jason Brodeur and Brodeur Chemical."  
_

_Laurel turns to the judge and says, "The interest of justice requires you to stay the defendant's execution pending exploration of the newly discovered evidence."_

_The judge replies, "Ours isn't a court of justice, Ms. Lance. It's a court of law. _

Laurel scowled and her hands formed into fists for a moment. She _hated_ judges like that, who wouldn't take a risk when it came to justice over 'law', especially when the law kept their buddies in money, and thus they themselves in getting their palms greased.

Malcolm noticed Laurel's actions and said, "I understand your frustration, Laurel. I felt the same way, which was why I did what I did when I first returned to Starling, and why Oliver will be doing it as well. Our city is dying, as Oliver said. To save it, we will need to go outside the law."

"You stop filling her head with nonsense, Merlyn," Quentin snapped, eying the man. He wasn't going to attack the bastard again, no, but he would do his best to keep an eye on both him _and_ Queen when they got back. Queen on his own, he could handle and almost respect; but Merlyn? No.

_And under the law, I don't think your evidence is sufficient to warrant a stay of execution. Your motion for habeas corpus is denied."  
_

_Laurel sees it's a lost cause to speak with the judge and moves over to Brodeur. "This isn't over. I've got the loose end now, and no matter what happens, I am going to pull on it until your whole world unravels."  
_

_Now at his home, Brodeur is speaking with the Fixer. "Declan's lawyer's pulling me into this," he rants. "I'm gonna go to prison, if not for murder, then this- this dumping thing."  
_

"_That won't happen," the Fixer replies. "There are steps we can take."  
_

"_You saw her," Brodeur says, past the point of rational thought. "She's going after me."  
_

_The Fixer sighs. "She's gonna want to meet with her client after what happened in court today. We have friends up in Iron Heights. Prison can be a dangerous place."  
_

"Jesus," Quentin muttered. He turned to Laurel. "You are not getting involved with these cases, young lady." Laurel looked defiant. "I am not gonna loose you. . . . not like I lost Sara. Not because of Queen and his crazy crusade."

"It's not crazy, Dad," Laurel argued. "I don't like his methods, but Oliver is at least doing what he can to bring justice back to the Glades, which is a damn sight better than your bosses or the City Council are doing! They're to busy sipping champagne and scratching each other's back while the Glades are dying, choking on corruption and crime!" Laurel sat back, chest heaving and scowling at her stunned father, before the memory sequence started up again.

_On the rooftop, Laurel is meeting with Oliver again. "We're not done yet," Oliver says.  
_

"_I'm an attorney," Laurel says. "Trust me. We're done."  
_

"_What do you need to free Peter Declan?" Oliver asks. _

"_At this point, nothing short of a signed confession from Brodeur."  
_

_Oliver moves to the edge of the roof. "Where are you going?" Laurel asks. _

"_To get a confession," Oliver replies before swinging off of the roof.  
_

Malcolm and Slade both leaned forward this time.

_At Queen Consolidated, Felicity comes to Walter with a report. "The company Mrs. Queen- or Steele. Mrs. Queen-Steele. She hyphenate? She seems like a woman who would hyphenate." Walter clears his throat. "Right. The company she invested in doesn't exist."  
_

"_I don't understand," Walter says.  
_

"_There was no investment," Felicity says simply. "The money was used to set up an offshore LLC called Tempest."  
_

"_I don't recall that name being under the Queen Consolidated banner."  
_

"_'Cause it's not," Felicity replies. "There's nothing registered with the Secretary of State, no federal tax records, no patent applications filed. But in 2009, Tempest purchased a warehouse in Starling City." Felicity hands a slip of paper with the address to Walter.  
_

_At the Big Belly Burger, Carly comes up to speak with Diggle. "Enough moping."  
_

"_Mm."  
_

"_You quit," Carly continues. "It's done. My advice would be to move on."  
_

"_Well, if it were only that easy," Diggle replies, clearly conflicted about Oliver's offer.  
_

"_Except it is," Carly says. "Personal security is dangerous. Your nephew already lost his father. He can't lose his uncle, too."  
_

_Diggle turns to Carly and asks, "Does it ever bother you they never caught the guy who killed Andy?" At Carly's look, Diggle says, "You know, when I was in Afghanistan, I had a job, and I did it. And when I could, I would help out the people there so that, in some small way, when I left, I could believe I left it a better place. But ever since I've been home, all I do is protect punks and spoiled one percenters. I miss feeling like I'm making a difference in the world."  
_

"_Then get out of personal security and go do something you believe in," Carly advised.  
_

"_Yeah, what if it's wrong?" Diggle asked, now clearly tempted by Oliver's offer. _

"_John, if you believe in something, how can it be wrong?"_

"And he's in," Malcolm said to himself.

_At Brodeur's residence, Oliver is confronting Brodeur. "What do you want?" Brodeur demands to know. _

"_You're gonna confess that you arranged to have Peter Declan's wife murdered."  
_

"_What, so I can take his place in prison?" Brodeur scoffs. _

"_So you can avoid the death penalty," Oliver says, pulling out an arrow and aiming at Brodeur.  
_

"_Except if I'm dead, well, then, you've got no one to pin Camille's murder on. You need me to exonerate Peter Declan. Maybe you could try to force me to sign a confession or something," Brodeur says, clearly trying to buy time. Oliver fires the arrow, which pierces through Brodeur's left palm and pins it to the wall. He screams.  
_

"_That might be difficult," Oliver says, morbidly amused.  
_

Both Merlyn men chuckled at this one; Tommy because the quip was something Oliver's dry humor would come up with, and Malcolm because Oliver was continuing to do what he would have liked to. He would have to consider whether or not the Undertaking was the _right_ option, since Oliver was clearly already making a difference.

_Brodeur's cell phone rings. Ignoring Brodeur's whimpering, Oliver pulls it out and says threateningly, "Just answer it." He presses the 'accept call' icon.  
_

"_What?" Brodeur says, while staring into Oliver's eyes. _

"_It's Ankov. It's going down, one hour." _

_Oliver shuts the phone off and asks, "What's going down in an hour?" At Brodeur's hesitation, he snarls, "What?!" _

_Brodeur, regaining some of his bravado and a bit of sadism, says, "Let's just say Peter Declan's execution, it's getting moved up."  
_

_Oliver growls and knocks Brodeur out. _

_At the prison, Laurel is meeting with Declan. "We still have a shot. Do you remember the friend that I mentioned, the one who believes in you? He is working on something."  
_

"_I told you, Jason Brodeur is powerful," Declan replies, looking despondent.  
_

_Outside, Ankov the Fixer meets with a corrupt prison guard. "Time to unlock the cages."  
_

_Back in the meeting room, Declan continues, "I've been here before. These lawyers holding out these little nuggets of hope."  
_

_As the prisoners are released, an alarm begins to blare. "Secure all corners in cell block "C". The warden's setting up a secure perimeter in "C" block," comes over the guard's radio. As Laurel stands, the guard gestures to her. "Stay here, Ms. Lance."  
_

_Laurel and Declan run. Outside, Oliver arrives and subdues a guard. Inside the prison, Laurel and Declan find themselves facing several prisoners, including some who are on Brodeur's payroll, as evidenced by their next words. "Wait! There's Lance."  
_

_As the scum move forward, an arrow flies through the air and strikes one of them. The next moment, Oliver, now in a guard's uniform and a ski mask,__is fighting them. Knocking down the last opponent, he turns to Laurel and Declan.__ "Let's go."_

_He leads them away as guards rush in to control the crowd. As he moves them into another part of the prison, Yankov ambushes them, knocking Oliver to the ground and stunning him. Yankov next moves on Laurel, knocking her to the ground before climing atop her and beginning to strangle her to death. Oliver sees this and his eyes widen. He rushes forward and pulls Yankov off. As Laurel rolls away, coughing, Oliver repeatedly punches Yankov.  
_

"Well, if that's not a sign that Oliver still holds a torch for you, I don't know what is," Thea said dryly. Tommy coughed to cover up his laugh.

Laurel rolled her eyes at the two.

_Laurel, seeing this, moves forward, and cries, "Stop!" Oliver stands, but not before Laurel sees the rage in his eyes.  
_

_The next moment, guards are swarming and yelling orders. In the chaos, Oliver vanishes. _

_Outside the prison, Laurel is found by her father. "Laurel. Sweetie. What are you—" _

"_I'm all right," Laurel assures her father.  
_

"_You sure?" Quentin asks. _

"_I'm sorry about what I said to you," Laurel replies soflty, and Quentin accepts it._

"_Yeah, well, you were right. Ankov just confessed to Camille Declan's murder.  
We got the wrong guy." Here, Quentin turns serious. "Now, listen to me, Laurel. I'm right, too, about him. He's dangerous. He's outside the law."  
_

"_I know," Laurel replies softly. "He's a killer. He would have killed that man.  
The look in his eyes, I- it was awful." Oliver is seen watching them. He lowers his head, making it clear he heard what Laurel said.  
_

_In another flashback, Oliver is begging with Yao Fei as the bird continues to chirp." Hey, please. I'm starving. I never killed anything before." Yao Fei ignores him, and Oliver reluctantly opens the cage and brings the bird out. Looking like he's about to break down, he places his hand over the bird's head. It squawks in alarm. "I'm sorry," he murmurs as the bones crack." _

Perhaps it was because of the scene right before, but everyone who hadn't experienced such desperation (Malcolm and Slade being the obvious exceptions) felt as though a little piece of them died as they watched Oliver being forced to kill for the first time, to survive.

_Back in the present, Quentin is guiding Laurel to a car. "Let's get you home, sweetie. How'd he get into that prison, anyway, huh? A grown man in an outfit and a hood, that kind of stands out a little, doesn't it?" _

"_He actually wasn't wearing the outfit this time," Laurel replies. "He was in a prison guard uniform and a ski mask." Quentin looks thoughtful, prompting her to ask, "What?" _

"_Nothing," Quentin says, before smiling. "I just had an idea. Get in the car." Laurel smiles at her father and does as he asks. _

_Walter pulls up to a warehouse in a less-crowded part of the city, and walks up the steps. He finds a keypad. He types in 'Tempest', which doesn't work. He next tries 'Oliver', and it doesn't either. After a moment, he types in 'Robert' and the door unlocks. Entering, he flips on the lights and is shocked by what he finds: the wreckage of the Queen's Gambit. _

It was like a punch to the gut for several people as they saw the wreckage. Thea and Tommy looked stricken; Laurel and her father were trying to block out the images of Sara being sucked out of the wreckage; Moira closed her eyes as her secret was revealed; and Malcolm felt as though he had been stabbed through the heart. Why had Moira salvaged the _Gambit_ without telling him? Of course, the answer came to him instantly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Thea asked her mother. "You could've had an investigation opened! Detective Lance, at least, wouldn't have let it go!" Quentin nodded in agreement.

Moira sighed and said, "Thea. . . Quentin. . . . as I said before, there are forces at work that are far more powerful and I was keeping the Gambit in reserve on the off-chance I needed leverage."

_At the police precinct, Quentin and Hilton are speaking with their tech guru. "Okay, here's the security footage from the Exchange building shooting, but I've already scrubbed through all of it."  
_

"_Yeah? Well, we're gonna do it again," Quentin says. "So, listen, when you went through the camera security tapes, you were looking for a guy in a green outfit and a green hood, right?" _

"_What do you want me to look for, a man in a wig and a tutu?" _

"_I want you to look for anything that's out of the ordinary, ok? Just look." The begins playing through the tapes. Quentin spots something. "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. Wait. Go back 10 seconds. What is that?" On the screen, Oliver can be seen pulling out his gear from the trash can. "I'll be damned," Quentin says quietly. "Play that again."_

"Ah, shit," Tommy said eloquently.

_In a park, Declan is walking with Laurel, now a free man. "Thank you, Laurel."  
_

"_Don't thank me," Laurel replies. "Thank Brodeur's bodyguard Ankov for flipping him. I think there's someone that wants to see you." She points. _

_Peter looks and sees his daughter. "Izzy." He smiles and meets his daughter halfway, falling to his knees.  
_

_In the lair, Oliver is watching the report on the new developments with a smile on his face. "At least 5 federal, state, and local agencies are seeking millions of dollars in fines and environmental cleanup costs from Brodeur Chemical, new facts have come to light that Brodeur Chemical employee Camille Declan had discovered Brodeur was illegally disposing waste and had collected a file of evidence against her employer before her murder in 2007. Peter Declan, who was convicted of killing his wife, has been released, and the case has been reopened." Oliver opens the List and crosses of Brodeur's name.  
_

"Oliver's quite busy," Malcolm muttered to himself.

_In a flashback, Oliver is now eating the cooked bird. _

_Yao Fei, nodding, says, "Shengcún."  
_

"_Yeah, bird, I know," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Shengcún not mean 'bird'," Yao Fei replies, surprising Oliver that he can speak English. "Shengcún mean 'survive.'"  
_

"_You speak English!?"  
_

Tommy snickered, and everyone looked amused. Perhaps the most amused was Slade, though he didn't laugh. It was more that he radiated amusement. He hadn't known Yao Fei much, but he knew the man liked his little tricks.

"_You want survive this place, bird not last thing you kill." Yao Fei points at the picture of Laurel. "And forget her. You look at that all day, you not survive this place."  
_

_Moira can be seen entering a limo on a ramp somewhere in town. "You wanted to see me?" she asks the occupant, who is revealed to be Malcolm Merlyn. _

Quentin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Tommy and Thea looked apprehensive, while their parents were doing their best to remain stoic. Malcolm had his suspicions that any credibility the two of them had had was about to take a major blow from the occupants in the room.

"_You look nervous, Moira," Malcolm says.  
_

"_Hmm. Do I have a reason to be?" Moira asks. _

"_We all do," Malcolm replies, and pulls out the sketch drawing of 'The Hood'. _

_Moira looks at it then says, "A modern-day Robin Hood. What, are you worried that your net worth makes you a target?" _

_Malcolm shifts in his seat to face Moira more fully, and says, "Jason Brodeur. Adam Hunt. Warren Patel. Tell me you see a connection, Moira."  
_

_Moira, a look of realization dawning, turns to look down at the Hood. "He's not targeting the rich."  
_

"_No, he's not," Malcolm replies. "He's targeting the List."  
_

"What do you know about the List Queen is using as his hunting guide?" Quentin demanded to know.

Malcolm felt a sense of calm wash over him as he decided to reveal another tidbit. They didn't need to know about the final Undertaking until it was revealed, in his opinion. "Robert Queen, Frank Chen, myself, and a few others worked together to write the List. We found men and women like Adam Hunt and Jason Brodeur, and we used our knwoeldge of their illicit activities to force them to help. Anonymous donations to the police force to buy new weapons and gear; the foundation of a law office," here, Malcolm's eyes flicked to Laurel, who's own eyes widened as she connected the dots, "even turning them on one another when the time was needed. After Robert's death. . . . well, things have changed."

No one asked what he meant by that, though perhaps they were afraid of the answer.

_At the Queen Mansion, Diggle enters the room Oliver is in and clears his throat. Oliver turns and nods. "You here for the bodyguard position? 'Cause the new guy just quit."  
_

"_No, I'm not," Diggle replies. "I'm here about the other position." Oliver moves forward, offering his hand to Diggle. "Just to be clear, I'm not signing on to be a sidekick." Oliver nods his agreement. "But you're right. Fighting for this city needs to be done, and you're gonna do this with or without me."  
_

"_Yeah," Oliver replies.  
_

"_But with me, there'll be fewer casualties, including you," Diggle says.  
_

"_Diggle, I'm not looking for anybody to save me," Oliver says, self-deprecatingly.  
_

"_Maybe not, but you need someone just the same," Diggle replies, stepping forward. "You are fighting a war, Queen, except you have no idea what war does to you, how it scrapes off little pieces of your soul. And you need someone to remind you of who you are, not this thing you're becoming." The two men finally shake hands as the sound of tires pulling up outside can be heard.  
_

_The door bursts open and several officers enter, one of them shouting for, "Oliver Queen."  
_

_Walter, standing in the foyer, is outraged as he says, "What is this? You can't just barge in here."  
_

"_Yeah? Well, I got a badge and a gun that say different," Quentin replies as he enters, Moira can be seen coming up behind him.  
_

"Dad. . . ." Laurel said warningly, her eyes narrowing at her father. Quentin flinched. He could see the mistake he was making on-screen. In his hatred for Oliver and his alter ego, he was setting things up so that Queen could get off scot free if he wanted to.

"_Hey, what the hell's going on?" Oliver demands to know. One of the uniforms, at a nod from Lance, comes up behind Oliver and begins cuffing him as Moira finally comes to stand next to Walter._

"_Oliver Queen, you're under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault. . . ." Quentin begins listing the crimes he's arresting Oliver for. _

"_What is going on?" Thea calls out as she descends and sees her brother being arrested. "Walter, stop them!" _

_Quentin continues listing the offenses, "Trespassing, acting as a vigilante…" _

_At this, Oliver, scowling, demands, "Are you out of your mind?!" as Walter shakes his head in disbelief and pulls out his cell phone. _

"_And murder," Quentin finishes, his face not two inches from Oliver's. As Oliver is led out, his rights being read to them, Diggle and Thea bookend Walter and Moira as they watch in disbelief at what's just happened. _

"Well, I think that's enough for today," said a voice from the doorway. Turning, they found Victor Stone waiting for them. "If you'll follow me, I can guide you to your rooms." The group found that they actually were tired; they had all been brought here from a point in the early evening. They followed Victor to a set of rooms. "Ladies are on the right, men on the left," Victor said. "Oh, and Mr. Wilson, Mr. Merlyn Sr.?" The two men looked at him. "Because of your relationships with the League in the future, you won't be allowed to wander about until your with the group again. A precaution, for both our safety and yours."

"What do you mean by that?" Moira asked.

Victor knew that things would eventually come to be known, so he simply said, "Slade Wilson and Malcolm Merlyn are two of the most formidable adversaries the Justice League have faced." With that, he kept them from asking further questions by gesturing to the rooms and waiting for them to enter. Thea and Laurel ended up in a room with each other while Moira claimed a room for herself. Quentin and Slade both claimed a room for themselves to avoid speaking with anyone, and then Malcolm and Tommy roomed together.

But each person recognized the tense in which Victor Stone had spoken of Malcolm and Slade. That they _are_ two of the most formidable adversaries. Not one person had any doubt that this meant both Malcolm and Slade were Oliver's enemies. The only question on most minds was what exactly was Merlyn's skillset?

_**A/N: Wooh. Sorry for the delay. X-Men Days of Future Past was awesome and I was kinda hyping up for it. **_

_**I might be late again with the next chapter because Tuesday, Watch Dogs comes out and I'll be doing some vigilantism in a virtual world. :D But I have a goal to to finish this fic by the end of summer. So no worries; it will be finished. **_


	6. Chapter 6: Damaged

_**A/N: Apologies for the lateness of this chapter. I had a massive headache for several days, mainly due to lack of sleep, and couldn't write a paragraph, much less an entire chapter. However, the chapter is now ready, and I hope that it was worth the wait for you all. **_

_**For the record: there's not a lot of interruptions/commentary in this chapter as I've always seen "Damaged" as an intermediate episode. **_

Chapter 6:

Damaged

In the room shared by father and son, Malcolm turned his attention to his son. "You have questions." It wasn't a query or an off-hand remark, but a definitive statement.

"Yeah, I do," Tommy replied. "Did you find him?"

Malcolm gave his son a measured look, wondering if the boy could handle it. He knew who Tommy meant of course; for Malcolm and Tommy, there could be only one _he_; the man who had killed Rebecca. "I did," Malcolm replied. "When I did as Oliver is doing, I didn't give them a chance to 'repent' as he does; that is Mr. Wilson's influence, I suspect. But with the man who killed your mother, I took my time. I did it slowly, because I wanted him to feel the pain I felt, as much as I could, until his heart gave out. I was taught many ways to kill someone, Tommy, and also how to get information." Malcolm met his eyes. "But I knew, in the end, that the man who killed your mother was not the disease, but the symptom. There are so many men like him in the Glades. You stay out of the Glades more often than not, and I know that you don't know what it's like."

"I know enough," Tommy replied. "I have to ask: what is it with you and Oliver?" Malcolm raised an eyebrow. "I mean, ever since we were kids, you've paid him more attention than you ever did me. That's why I thought he was my brother, and not Thea."

Malcolm was silent for a moment, mulling over his words. "As you know, our families have been close for years," Malcolm said slowly. "I encouraged Oliver in the hopes that you would do the same things he did, reckless though they were. You were very much Rebecca's son, more cautious and caring. I just wanted to see you be a little more like my son, as much as I loved your mother."

Tommy was silent for a moment. This was it? This was the thing that had kept his father from showing him how much he loved him, how much he considered him his son? The fact he was cautious and cared for others? "What kind of sick person are you?" he asked Malcolm, and Malcolm knew that his son wasn't asking him and expecting an answer. Even if he was, Malcolm knew he couldn't explain it to his son. As much as Tommy missed his mother, he didn't carry the guilt that Malcolm did, knowing he could have done something to save his wife, even if it was getting the corrupt police force to her sooner.

In Laurel and Thea's room, the two girls were facing each other. "So," Laurel began, "exactly which one of your brothers are you rooting for me to get together with?" She gave the younger girl an added quizzical look.

"You'll get together with one of them," Thea replied. "It's just a matter of which one. That's your purview, but I'll fuel the fires on both just to see how annoyed you three get."

Laurel looked at the younger girl in slight disbelief before saying, "Something tells me that, like Oliver, there's no stopping you once you've made the choice to annoy someone." Thea smirked as if to say 'guilty as charged', and Laurel threw her hands up in the air.

In Quentin's room, the detective was in the middle of a furious debate with himself. He wanted to hate Queen, God how he wanted to hate Queen, but he also could tell the man was doing good in the city as a vigilante, even if he was killing people. _If he wasn't killing people, maybe I could get behind him,_ Quentin admitted to himself grudgingly. _These memories are showing that there are people who are able to sneak passed the law and even the courts won't do jack-shit to stop them. Someone needs to. But why does it have to be _Queen_? _

For the entire viewing party, the night was one of restless reflection. The only ones who truly got a decent amount of sleep were Laurel and Thea, who didn't have as much to tussle with emotionally. Thea hadn't quite been hit by the shock of everything, though, and Laurel knew it was coming. She vowed to keep an eye on the younger girl, make sure she had someone in her corner. Laurel knew Tommy would be doing the same.

The next morning, they were once more led to the viewing room by Victor Stone. "Breakfast will arrive shortly," the cyborg told them, and left them to their own devices. For a moment, the group inwardly debated whether or not to speak; finally, Malcolm spoke.

"Well, the sooner we begin again, the sooner we can learn how Oliver gets out of Detective Lance's custody," the as-yet-unknown Dark Archer said. Quentin huffed at this, but even he knew that Queen had to have gotten free and clear thanks to his little 'intervention' between the cop and the billionaire assassin.

Taking up their previous seats, they began the next memory sequence.

_In an Island flashback, Yao Fei shoots a rabbit and gestures to Oliver. "Dinner." It is clear he wants Oliver to pick it up.  
_

_Oliver is less-than-pleased with this idea and says, "Ah, come- hey, I got an idea, why don't you let me shoot that thing and you can go pick up the bloody, dead, disgusting animal."  
_

_Yao Fei gives him a measuring look before holding out the bow. "What?" Yao Fei gestures again with the bow and pulls an arrow out for Oliver to use. Oliver prepares for his first attempt. _

_Yao Fei begins coaching him. "Breathe. Everything, breathe. Breathe, aim fire. Here. Aim that tree. Breathe." Oliver fires, missing the tree and rustling some branches. Yao Fei mutters something in Mandarin. _

"_What does that mean?" Oliver asks, half-curious, half apprehensive. _

"_You will die badly," Yao Fei replies without cushioning. _

Malcolm chuckled. "An interesting teacher Oliver's found," he mused.

_He points to the arrow. "Get." Oliver moves to protest, but one look from Yao Fei has the young billionaire moving forward. _

Moira raised an eyebrow. It was very difficult to get her son to do anything, especially with a single look, yet this man had managed to do so in a matter of weeks where it had taken her and Robert years. Of course, Yao Fei had an advantage of being the one to teach Oliver how to survive rather than just keeping him safe.

_Oliver is searching for the arrow when he is captured by soldiers, who drag him, struggling and screaming, to a make-shift prison, which they shove him into. "Wait, wait! You can't leave me here!" The soldiers are beginning to leave. "Don't do this to me, please! No! Please! I didn't do anything!" _

_In the present, Oliver is being led into the police station by Quentin as the reporters swarm. As his booking is shown, one of Oliver's voice-overs begins. "The police think they know who I am. They think I'm the vigilante. The man in the hood terrorizing the city's criminals. They also think they have me trapped. That I have no way out. They're only half right."  
_

Tommy had to chuckle, despite the fact he was disturbed by Oliver's new skillset. At the looks he was receiving, he said, "As much as Oliver's different, he's still got that cockiness he always had. It's just more. . . . refined, I guess." Malcolm nodded at his son, showing he agreed with Tommy's assessment, and the viewing party likewise recognized that Tommy was right. Of course, it was hard to dispute that since Tommy and Oliver had the longest history together, and there were things you told and did with your best friend that even your mother didn't know about; or at the very least, that she let you think she didn't know about.

_In an interview room, Quentin and Oliver are seated across from each other. "I'll be asking you a few questions, standard stuff for the report. Have you been arrested before?" Oliver smiles at the detective as the man says, "That's okay, I know the answer to that one, plenty of times."  
_

"_Like I said, this is a mistake," Oliver replies.  
_

_Quentin, looking disgusted, says, "Far as I can tell, the only mistake I made was not shooting you down at the docks when I had a chance."  
_

"_I am not who you think I am," Oliver tells the man without a twitch to his face.  
_

"_Oh, you're exactly who I think you are," Quentin says, his anger showing. "You're a dangerous menace who doesn't care about who he hurts, except now you're doing it with bows and arrows instead of trust funds and yachts."  
_

"_Detective, you hate me," Oliver says, looking sympathetic to the man. "I get it. But that doesn't make me a vigilante." _

"_No," Quentin agrees. "The security camera footage of you at the UNIDAC auction with a green hood does that pretty well."  
_

"_And as I said again, I ran into the stairwell once I heard the shooting. I saw a duffel that I thought maybe belonged to the shooter. I grabbed it, looked inside and saw. . . . a hood."  
_

"_What, did you take it home with you? Because we can't find it; and what about harassing Adam Hunt? That just happened to take place right across the street from your little homecoming bash."  
_

"_Those were coincidences," Oliver replies firmly.  
_

"_No," Quentin replies. "When they pile up like that, it becomes evidence."  
_

_A patrolman enters the room. "His parents are here."  
_

"_Tell them to wait," Quentin says.  
_

_His words are ignored as Moira and Walter enter, Moira saying, "I want to see my son."  
_

"_I'm in the middle of an interrogation here!" Quentin protests. _

"_Detective Lance, I know you hate my family, but I had no idea that you'd go so far to arrest my son without any grounds whatsoever!" Moira says, giving the man a look of mixed annoyance and a bit of pity. _

"_I have solid grounds, and I have evidence," Quentin replies.  
_

_Walter, no longer in the mood to play peacekeeper as he has done between Moira and Quentin up until now, replies, "Which you can present to Mr. Queen's attorney when he gets here. Until then, this interrogation is over, Detective."  
_

"_Sure," Quentin huffs, and leaves the room with the file.  
_

_Now alone, Walter says, "Detective Lance appears to be on some personal vendetta."  
_

"_He is," Oliver replies. "He blames me for the death of his daughter." Then his tone takes on a familiar mocking tone. "He also thinks that I dress up in a green hood and shoot people with arrows."  
_

Moira sighed. "He knows just how to throw off our suspicions," she said wearily. She glanced again at Slade Wilson. Had it been the one-eyed man who taught her son how to do that? Or had it been this Yao Fei?

"_The important thing is not to say anything until your attorney gets here," Walter replies.  
_

"_Fine," Oliver says. "I want Laurel."  
_

Quentin groaned while Laurel shook her head. Thea snickered at the Lances reactions, and Tommy gave Quentin a knowing smirk. Quentin scowled at Merlyn Jr.'s expression, but didn't move further. He had no desire to receive another, albeit brief, beat-down at the hands of Merlyn Sr.

_Moira and Walter both scoff, and Walter says, "Brilliant."  
_

_Moira, trying to keep from being too antagonistic, says, "Oliver I don't think your ex-girlfriend can be counted on to be objective here."  
_

"_She knows me better than anyone," Oliver counters. "She knows that I could never be this guy. Walter, you say Lance has a vendetta?" _

"_Yes," Walter replies, wondering where Oliver is going with this.  
_

"_I think Laurel can get him off of it. He raised her to do the right thing. That includes representing an innocent man. So, Mom, please."  
_

Laurel kneaded her temples. She knew that her on-screen counterpart would be doing exactly that.

_At CNRI, Laurel is looking through files when Moira arrives. "Laurel."  
_

"_Mrs. Queen! What are you—" _

"_It's Oliver," Moira replies. "Something's happened."  
_

"_It's been all over the news," Laurel replies, nodding to the television where a recap of Oliver's arrest, with a banner suggesting Oliver is the vigilante, can be seen.  
_

"_These charges are ludicrous," Moira says.  
_

"_I know," Laurel tells the older woman. "Can I ask you, who's representing him?" _

_Moira, looking uncomfortable, says, "Well, that's why I'm here. He wants you to represent him."  
_

"_Me?" Laurel replies, looking shocked. _

"_Yes," Moira says. "I told him it was a bad idea, but to be frank, I am desperate. He says if you don't represent him, then he doesn't want any attorney."  
_

"_Mrs. Queen, my father is the arresting officer."  
_

"_Yes," Moira nods.  
_

"_And I don't think it's a good idea for me to represent someone who I've been involved with. Listen, I am sorry for what your family is going through—" _

_Moira holds up a hand, giving Laurel a look of compassion. "No apologies. Your idealism, I think, is why my son, for all his mistakes, is so smitten with you. Regardless, it was a bad idea on his part, and I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." Moira leaves, and Laurel can be seen thinking.  
_

_In a packed courtroom, Oliver is waiting for the beginning of his trial to begin. The court reader says, "Docket 81941, People vs. Oliver Queen. Murder, aggravated assault, assault with intent, menacing and trespassing."  
_

"_Where's your attorney, Mr. Queen?" the judge asks Oliver._

"_I'm representing myself, Judge," Oliver replies.  
_

"_I'm not sure that's the wisest course, Mr. Queen," the judge says, trying to give at least the appearance of a fair trial. This is, after all, the same judge who told Laurel that theirs is a court of law rather than justice.  
_

"_I think it is," Oliver counters. "I'm innocent."  
_

"_Then we'll consider that your plea," the judge says.  
_

"_Thank you," Oliver says.  
_

"_Now, as to bail—" the judge begins, turning to the D.A. _

"_Your Honor," the D.A. begins, "Mr. Queen's family owns a pair of private jets, and, well, on the subject of their wealth, I would point out that there is virtually no bail amount that can guarantee his presence at trial."  
_

"_So then I guess it's a good thing that the people's case is so circumstantial," Laurel says as she arrives armed with a case file. Oliver turns with a smile on his face to greet her while Quentin is looking befuddled. _

Tommy and Thea had to chuckle at that, and even Laurel hid a smile. Her father would be trying to figure out what his daughter was doing, defending a 'murdering scumbag'.

"_Dinah Laurel Lance, Your Honor. I'd like to file my appearance on behalf of the defendant." Oliver moves seats to show his agreement to Laurel being his attorney. "Mr. Queen's wealth should not deprive him of the right to be released on bail while under the __**presumption**__ of innocence."  
_

"_He is a flight risk," the D.A. says.  
_

"_Then minimize the risk," Laurel counters. "The defendant is willing to submit to home confinement and electronic monitoring through the wearing of a UKG45 administrated ankle device."  
_

"_No, he wouldn't," Oliver protests, though feebly.  
_

"_Sold," the judge replied.  
_

"_Your Honor—" the D.A. begins to protest._

"_Bail is set at $15 million. $5 million bond. Defendant to see probation for the fitting of a GPS device."  
_

_As the court erupts in whispers and the D.A. looks irritated, Oliver turns to Laurel with a hint of a smirk and says, "I knew you couldn't resist saving my ass."  
_

"_You're going to make me regret this, aren't you?" Laurel replies resignedly. _

"_No," Oliver says. "It's going to be like old times."  
_

"_Fortunately for you with the legal case, there's no way that you're this vigilante," Laurel says.  
_

"_I agree."  
_

"_Because he's actually trying to make a difference," Laurel continues, putting her files into a briefcase and snapping it shut. "We both know that's not really your style."  
_

"Ouch!" Thea said, and Laurel flushed even if she knew that her on-screen counterpart was saying it in regards to Oliver's outward antics. She suspected that she would not be saying something like that if she knew it was Oliver under the hood.

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is being fitted with the monitoring ankle bracelet. "Mom," Oliver says, seeing his mother's distraught expression, "It's not that bad."  
_

_The probation officer, apparently used to things like this, says, "Okay. This device has a direct line into the precinct. Stay on the property, you're golden. Any questions?" _

"_Yes," Oliver replies. "I'm having a sizeable get together here tomorrow evening, and there is a better than likely chance it spills into the outdoor pool."_

Moira gave the screen a disbelieving look, not dissimilar to the one her on-screen counterpart was sporting. Thea shook with silent laughter. _  
_

"_Pool deck's fine," the officer says. "Step on the grass, they're sending a SWAT team to forcibly subdue you."  
_

"_Thank you, officer," Walter says to the man, who leaves.  
_

_Moira arches an eyebrow at her son and says, "A 'sizeable get together'?" _

"_I'm confined to this house for the foreseeable future," Oliver points out. "I might as well make the most of it. And this party is going to be themed," he turns his attention to Tommy, who usually handles these sorts of things. "I'm thinking prison, uh, burning man meets __**Shawshank Redemption**__. The invite says, 'come before Oliver Queen gets off'."_

_"Maybe a party's not in the best of taste, you know, considering the circumstances," Tommy says uncertainly.  
_

"_Tommy, the circumstances are why we're having the party in the first place. I want people to know that I'm not worried about any of this," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Well, that makes one of us," Moira replies, shaking her head.  
_

_At Laurel's apartment, she lets her father in. "Before you start yelling—" _

"_Why would I yell?" Quentin begins, half-yelling. _

Quentin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"_You're only defending the man that killed your sister."  
_

"_Oliver did not kill Sara!"  
_

"_If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have been on that boat!"  
_

"_Have you considered the possibility that that's the reason you're trying to make him out to be this-this menace?" _

"_No, it is the video tape, the suspicious timing, that is the reason!" _

"_This is Oliver Queen we're talking about," Laurel replies exasperatedly. "He wrecks fancy cars and he dates models. He doesn't kill people."  
_

"_No, he just uses them, like he used Sara and like he used you, and he's only asked you to be his lawyer to get at me," Quentin snarls, caught up in his anger at Oliver.  
_

"_No, he asked me to be his lawyer to get through to you," Laurel counters. "You hate the Hood and you hate Oliver, and you want more than anything for them to be the same person. But Oliver isn't the reason why Sara died." _

Slade wondered idly if the 'memory flashbacks' would show some of Sara Lance's time onboard the _Amazo_. He had always wondered if the younger Lance had been used as more than just an assistant by Anthony Ivo. Not that that would soothe his anger at the bitch any less; but it would be amusing to see the man who clearly saw his daughters as strong react to his youngest being subjugated by a maniac.

_Here, Laurel's expression softens. "Or the reason mom left."  
_

"_I don't have to listen to this," Quentin says, beginning to leave.  
_

"_By the way, you're not the only one who misses them," Laurel tells him.  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is doing __**more **__research on his computer when a knock comes at the door. "Yup?" Diggle enters. "Thank you for coming," Oliver says, than points at the door. "Shut the door."  
_

Malcolm leaned forward slightly. This was the first time Diggle would be working with Oliver actively; it should prove educational.

_Diggle does so, and Oliver gestures him forward. Diggle says, "I guess it was just a matter of time before the police caught up with you."  
_

"_Except they didn't," Oliver replies. _

Quentin let out a huff of disbelief. _  
_

"_Oliver, they got you on video," Diggle points out.  
_

"_I knew the security camera was there, just like I knew the police would review the footage and arrest me," Oliver replies. "All part of the plan."  
_

Quentin's jaw dropped while Laurel raised an eyebrow. Slade smirked at the Kid's resourcefulness, and Malcolm raised an eyebrow in interest. With each 'episode', new talents of Oliver's were unveiled; he had thought the camera spotting Oliver was convenient, but chalked it up to the remnants of Oliver's arrogance.

"_So you wanted to get arrested?" Diggle asked skeptically. _

"_Well, I returned to Starling City and a few days later, the vigilante appears. Sooner or later, somebody was going to make the connection."  
_

"_So what part of serving yourself up to the cops will help you avoid going to prison for the rest of your life?" _

"_There's more to it."  
_

"_Well, there better be, for your sake, because your family is freaking out downstairs," Diggle says. "Oliver, your mother and your sister just got you back, and now you're going to put them through a trial, maybe even worse? Don't you care?" _

"_Of course I care," Oliver replies, offended. "The mission comes first." He turns to the computer to show Diggle the person he's researching. Diggle comes closer to examine it.  
_

"_Who is he?" _

"_Leo Mueller. German arms dealer. Suspected in the theft of a hundred M249 Squad Automatic Weapons."  
_

"_Okay." _

"_Last night he arrived in Starling City to sell the guns."  
_

"_Oliver, don't you imagine there's enough trouble you're in this week than to go after this guy?" Diggle asks. _

"_I imagine what would happen if a street gang got their hands on military-grade hardware. I imagine our city's streets turned into a war zone," Oliver counters.  
_

Both Malcolm and Quentin shuddered at that thought; Malcolm because he had seen the result of mere handguns in the possession of common thugs; if they got their hands on assault rifles. . . Quentin, on the other hand, had spent some time on the gang task force and knew that if you put automatic weapons into play with them, the streets literally would be a war zone.

"_But you're under house arrest, Oliver, which means you can't just go after this guy," Diggle replies.  
_

"_Look, for now, I would just like you to shadow Mueller. I would like you to track his movements. I want to know where the buy is happening."  
_

"_Okay," Diggle says. "And how am I supposed to track him?" _

"_Well, you know us billionaire vigilantes- we do love our toys," Oliver says, a hint of his playboy smirk visible.  
_

Malcolm chuckled at this. That was another element he and Oliver had in common.

_In the lair, Diggle activates the power and begins looking around. He touches one of the arrows. "Ow!" Then he finds what he's looking for: wireless trackers. Opening the box, he goes, "Oooh." Activating the tracker, he says, "Now, that's sweet."  
_

_At Queen Consolidated, Josiah Hudson is meeting Walter. "You wanted to see me, sir?" _

"_No," Walter replies. "I didn't." At Josiah's confused look, Walter waves between the two of them as he continues, "In fact, this meeting isn't taking place." At Josiah's look of understanding, the two men sit. "How long have you been head of security at Queen Consolidated, Josiah?" _

"_Going on seven years now, sir," Josiah replies.  
_

"_Sounds about right," Walter mutters to himself before saying, "But what I'm about to tell you will test the bounds of your discretion. You're aware of the __**Queen's Gambit**__, Robert Queen's ill-fated yacht?" At Josiah's nod, Walter says, "Well, I found it."  
_

"_Sir, the boat went down in the North China Sea five years ago," Josiah replies, a bit skeptical.  
_

"_Which is why my discovery of its remains in a warehouse downtown was unexpected, to say the least. I want you to transfer those remains to a secure location. Can I count on you?" _

"_What's going on, sir?" _

"_That's very much what I'm trying to determine."  
_

_At the precinct, Laurel and Oliver enter the interrogation room. The D.A., Kate Spencer, is there with Detective Lance. "Thank you both for coming," Spencer says.  
_

"_No, thank you," Oliver replies. "It's nice to get out of the house."  
_

_As Laurel and Oliver take their seats, Spencer says, "I'll cut right to it. Detective Lance arrested your client without consulting my office first. So, congratulations. I am willing to consider a plea in this case."  
_

"_Absolutely not," Oliver replies before Laurel can.  
_

"_Mr. Queen spent five years in seclusion on a deserted island, cut off from civilization. It is quite possible he's suffering from some form of post traumatic stress. Given that, we would support a plea of insanity, conditional on a period of indeterminate incarceration at a psychiatric facility."  
_

"That's not going to go over well," Tommy muttered.

"_No, thank you," Oliver says, again before Laurel can reply. "I'm not crazy."  
_

"_Finally something we agree on," Quentin butts in, earning an irritated glance from both his daughter and the D.A. "He's not a nut, he's a killing machine."  
_

"_Actually, I'm neither," Oliver says.  
_

"_There is nothing you can say to me that I would believe," Quentin tells the younger man.  
_

"_I'll take a polygraph," Oliver says.  
_

Quentin's eyebrows popped up.

"_Uh, polygraphs are inadmissible," Laurel interjects, looking at Oliver like he's an idiot.  
_

"_In front of the jury," Oliver says, locking eyes with Quentin. "I'll take a polygraph in front of him. __**He's**__ the one I need to convince."  
_

_Laurel turns to Spencer and her father. "I'm going to need a minute." After the two have left, Laurel turns to face Oliver. "You're looking at life in prison. What Spencer just offered you is a gift."  
_

"_I'm not crazy, I am innocent. I kind of want to take the polygraph. And if I take it and I fail, then I will consider making a deal."  
_

"_Fine, I'll set up the poly. And I will tell Spencer that we're not pleading out, but Oliver, you have a family. Friends. People who actually care about you. So don't, for one second, think you're the only person with something to lose here." She sighs. "I'll be right back." She leaves the room.  
_

_In a flashback, Oliver is escorted to meet Fyers. _

Slade growled deep in his throat, attracting the attention of the viewing party. "Something wrong, Mr. Wilson?" Moira asked archly.

"I hate that man," Slade replied. "He turned someone I once counted as a friend against me. The man who was my son's godfather, not your son," he clarified when he saw Moira look startled.

Malcolm grimaced. It appeared that Slade Wilson had had many betrayals in his life, and Malcolm could understand that most likely, Oliver's betrayal was the last one that Slade could handle; that would explain his hatred of Oliver.

"_Please, sit," the man says. "You're making me feel rude." Oliver sits, breathing heavily. "I do apologize for my men's treatment of you." Fyers opens a canned beverage. "They're- they're trained to view any stranger as hostile. I'm Edward Fyers, by the way. And you are?" _

"_I'm Oliver Queen," Oliver replies. "I was shipwrecked here. I don't know for how long." A bit of desperation leaks into his voice. "My family has money. They have lots of money you would be- You'd be really well compensated for my rescue."  
_

"_Well, I look forward to that," Fyers replies with a smile. "But for the moment, let's just talk."  
_

"_About what?" _

"_Well, for instance this gentleman," Fyers replies, holding up a picture of Yao Fei. "Do you know him?" _

"_No."  
_

"_No?" Fyers asks skeptically. _

"_No," Oliver lies firmly. "Who's he?" _

_Fyers, looking irritated now, says, "You're a poor liar. I've been polite. I'll offer you one more chance before my manners leave me." _

_He nods to two of his men, who grab Oliver from behind. "Hey, hey. I don't know this guy. I thought I was on this island all by myself."  
_

"_Do you know what this island is named?" At this, Oliver shakes his head. "We're on Lian Yu- Mandarin for 'Purgatory', and I can make it feel like hell. I don't know why you're protecting him. You're young, foolish. Perhaps you don't know why, either. Think on that when you're begging for death." He looks to the entrance, where a man in a split-colored mask enters with a number of weapons, including a pair of swords, strapped to his combat vest. "He's yours now," Fyers tells the man. _

Slade's hands curled into fists. Malcolm eyed the man thoughtfully before saying, "That's your friend, isn't it?"

"Yes," Slade replied tersely. "Bill Wintergreen." _  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is looking out on the pool deck where Thea is sitting on a poolside chair. "Hey, Speedy, one of the workers left a keg too far from the bar," Oliver tells her. "Can you ask them to move it please? I got the ankle thingie." He gestures with his leg for emphasis. "I don't want to set off a SWAT invasion." Seeing her despondent, Oliver comes out onto the deck and sits beside her. "Hey! All this stuff? It's going to be fine, I promise."  
_

_Thea, her voice choked with emotion, says, "Yeah, well, when you and dad left on the yacht, you promised me I'd see you in a few days. Which didn't happen."  
_

"_This is different than that," Oliver replies, and lies smoothly as he continues with, "I didn't do any of this stuff, you know that." When Thea does not immediately answer in the affirmative, Oliver prompts, "Right?" _

_Thea looks hesitant for a moment before taking the plunge. "You're out all the time. You have those scars, and since you've been back, you've been acting really weird." _

"_None of this makes me some Robin Hood wannabe," Oliver points out.  
_

"_And you get me this," Thea replies, pulling out the hosen. "I mean, it's an arrowhead."  
_

_Oliver says quietly, "Oh, man." He takes a deep breath than exhales. "Thea, I bought that in the gift shop of the Beijing airport." After a moment, he grins and says, "Now I'm sort of happy I didn't buy you the shot glass with the panda on it, 'cause then you'd be worried I was panda man."  
_

_Thea chuckles and smiles at her brother. "You know, I knew you couldn't be this person. I-I just- I can't lose you again."  
_

"_Deal," Oliver replies.  
_

_In an office space elsewhere in the city, Moira is meeting with Malcolm. _

Those present remembered that Malcolm and Moira had something to do with the List, and wondered what this meeting would reveal.

_The businessman says, "Moira. Thank you for coming on such short notice."  
_

"_Yes," Moira says, a bit rushed. "Could you please make this quick? I'm in the midst of somewhat of a family emergency."  
_

"_Yes, of course," Malcolm replies, smiling slightly. "It's all over the local news." He chuckles. "Possibly even national."  
_

_Moira appears to realize what this is about as she says, "Well, I know what you're thinking."  
_

"_Do you?" Malcolm asks skeptically. _

"_My son is not the man targeting the list, the charges are preposterous," Moira says firmly.  
_

"_Not according to the district attorney, assistant district attorney, investigating detective in the police department that filed charges against him," Malcolm replied. _

_"That detective has a vendetta against my family," Moira begins to point out.  
_

_Malcolm is apparently ignoring the reasons why Lance would have issue with the Queens as he asks, "Why? Is there something untoward about your family? If so, something really needs to be done about that." Moira meets Malcolm's gaze evenly.  
_

Quentin huffed out a laugh. "Are you seriously so high on whatever power you've got that you can't think of why I hate _Queen_, Merlyn?"

Malcolm felt himself flush just a little. He knew he had a problem with being overly-arrogant, a problem that he could tell Oliver suffered from too on occasion. He had not been as involved with the get-togethers the Queens and Lances had, though Tommy had been there often. By that point, Malcolm and Robert had begun the second Undertaking in earnest and were focused on making the city a better place. Malcolm had no desire to interact socially with those who weren't useful, so he had been a rare attendee at those get-togethers.

But that didn't excuse him; he prided himself on his critical thinking skills. They were what made him such a successful businessman. He knew the Lances and Queens drifted apart after the _Gambit_ had been brought down. He should have made the connection.

Quentin was surprised when Malcolm didn't move to attack him, since the businessman didn't take kindly to criticism. But as he thought about what he had said, Quentin (and most others) realized that Malcolm was thinking about Quentin's words and realizing how true they were.

_In the interrogation room at the police station, Oliver is with Lance, Laurel, and the person conducting the test. _

"_Is your name Oliver Queen?" Lance asks. _

"_You don't know who I am, Detective?" Oliver asks, lips twitching. _

"_The questions are to calibrate the polygraph," Laurel points out.  
_

"_Is your name Oliver Queen?" _

"_Yes."  
_

"_Were you born in Starling City May 16th, 1985?" _

"_Yes."  
_

"_Is your hair blue?" _

"_No."  
_

_Now that they have established the base line, Lance starts in on the serious questions. "Have you ever been to Iron Heights prison?" _

"_No."  
_

"_Are you the man in this picture?" Quentin shows Oliver the sketch of the Hood. _

_In a flashback, Fyers shows Oliver (now strung up with his hands tied above him) the picture of Yao Fei again and asks, "Where can I find the man in this picture?" _

_Back in the present, Oliver replies to Lance's question. "No."  
_

"_You steal 40 million dollars off Adam Hunt?" _

"_No, I didn't."  
_

"_Were you marooned on an island called Lian Yu for 5 years?" _

"_Yes," Oliver replies.  
_

"_How is that even relevant?" Laurel wants to know. _

"_I don't need to show relevance, but since you asked, whatever happened to your client on that island turned him into a cold blooded killer," Quentin replied, ignoring that he is speaking to his daughter in this moment.  
_

_A brief flashback of Wintergreen giving Oliver his first deep cut. "No!" Oliver screams. _

_Back in the present, Quentin asks, "The physician that examined you reported that is covered in scar tissue."  
_

_Quick flashback of Oliver's torture. _

"_The machine won't work unless you ask a question," the technician says.  
_

"_Did that happen to you there?" Quentin asks. _

"_Yes."  
_

"_When you came back, you told everyone that you were alone on that island.  
Are you claiming that your scars were self-inflicted?" Quentin's gaze is firm, uncompromising. _

_Oliver takes several seconds to answer. "No. I wasn't alone. I didn't want to talk about what happened to me on the island."  
_

"_Why not?" _

"_Because the people that were there tortured me."_

_This causes both Quentin and Laurel to give Oliver looks that are not suspicious, though Quentin's isn't quite sympathetic as opposed to Laurel's.  
_

"_Have you killed anyone?" _

_Another long pause from Oliver before he meets Lance's gaze, emotion in his eyes. "Yes." Laurel looks startled. _

"Is he actually going to admit to it?" the Laurel in the room asked quietly. No one could figure out why Oliver would say what he did.

Well, almost nobody. Quentin had seen enough of the new Queen to know exactly what the man was going to say, and he whole-heartedly agreed with Queen this one time.

"_When I asked your daughter Sara to come on my father's yacht with me." Laurel is clearly affected by what Oliver's just said, as is Quentin. "I killed your daughter," Oliver finishes, and after a moment, he leaves.  
_

Moira felt as though she had been stabbed. Her son, her beautiful boy, blamed himself for Sara's death. If anyone was responsible for Sara and Robert, it was her. She had convinced Robert to turn against Malcolm (not that Malcolm knew that), and it had been Robert's turning against him that had brought about the _Gambit_'s sinking. But looking around the room, she knew she couldn't tell them the truth. No, if it came out, it would not be by her, in this room.

_The technician looks at the readout and says, "I'd have to study the data, but just eyeballing it, he's telling the truth."_

_Quentin hums noncommittally.  
_

_Laurel, still affected by Oliver's revelations, stands and says, "Can I assume that you'll be recommending Ms. Spencer to drop all charges against my client?" _

_Quentin, remarkably calm, says, "No. I know a guilty man when I see one. He is guilty, whether you can see it or not."  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver's party is in swing as he arrives on stage. "Hi, everybody!" The crowd greets him. "I'm very touched that you came to celebrate with me before I am sent up the river. Closest neighbors are six miles away, so don't worry about the noise." After a moment of 'thoughtful' silence, Oliver says, "Actually, on second thought, let's wake those losers up!" _

_Oliver meets Diggle as he hops off the stage. Diggle says, "If you think this is what prison's like, you are in for a rude awakening." The two retire to Oliver's room, where Oliver checks the tracker. _

"_Mueller's car has been parked in the warehouse district of the Glades for 45 minutes."  
_

"_Yeah, that's a good place for an arms deal," Diggle replies. "Okay, since this is going down tonight, what do we do, drop a dime on Mueller with the cops?" _

"_No, the man in the Hood," Oliver replies. "He's going to stop them."  
_

_Diggle, looking incredulous, says, "Oliver, you can't leave the house."  
_

"_It doesn't have to be me in the hood," Oliver replies, giving Diggle a significant look.  
_

Quentin huffed in irritation, and Malcolm and Slade both smirked at Oliver's skill in deception. Slade because he could see whoever had trained the Kid after their parting of ways had done a superb job in honing the raw material he had left in the aftermath of the _Amazo_, and Malcolm because he could clearly see how alike he and Oliver truly were. Again, Malcolm had to wonder if Oliver had received training by the League of Assassins, but decided it was unlikely. His fighting style was too unconventional, with more focus on the use of the bow than on standing toe-to-toe with his enemies. That was one area where Malcolm could help hone Oliver's skills.

_Diggle chuckles and says, "That's why you threw this ridiculous party? So you have a hundred witnesses placing you here at the house while I'm supposed to be across town dressed as a vigilante?" _

"_I thought that it was going to be good enough just for you to be seen in the Hood," Oliver replies. "I didn't count on Mueller showing up and I didn't count on the possibility that the Glades could be flooded with machine guns." Seeing DIggle looking conflicted, Oliver says, "Look. I promise, it was never my intention to put you in harm's way."  
_

"_Oliver, I didn't think joining your crusade was ever going to be risk-free," Diggle points out. "I just don't like being played. Now, you might have gotten used to lying to everyone else in your life, but I'm the one guy you don't lie to."  
_

"_You're right," Oliver replies. "I'm sorry." He studies DIggle for a moment. "So am I going to jail?" _

"_No, man," Diggle says, adjusting his suit. "I got to stop an arms deal."  
_

Quentin let out a small sigh of relief. Seeing the looks he was getting, he said, "Don't get me wrong, I want Queen to be taken down. But I don't want Starling City to become a damn war zone in the process. There'll be other times to take him down, I'm sure." Even Quentin could tell his argument was half-hearted, and above them, Roy Harper smirked. Clearly seeing how things worked rather than just getting cryptic phone calls was causing Quentin to give in earlier.

_At Queen Consolidated, Walter receives a phone call. "Hello?" _

"_Mr. Steele, I'm sorry to bother you, sir. This is Mike Vogel down in security. But I have some sad news for you. The company's head of security, Josiah Hudson, was in a car accident tonight. He's dead, sir." Walter is stunned by the news.  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is in the front hall when Laurel arrives. "Hello," he greets her. "Do we have a legal meeting or something? Because I have friends over." The last sentence is said in an exaggerated fashion.  
_

Tommy, Thea, and even Laurel had to chuckle at the way Oliver had said the last line.

"_Do you think maybe you can tear yourself away from this inappropriately-themed rave for a couple minutes?" Laurel asks. Oliver gestures for her to follow him. _

_The two go to his room, and Laurel says, "Wow. I can't remember the last time that I've been in this room._

"_I can," Oliver replies. "Halloween, 2005. We were getting ready for Tommy's party."_

Laurel rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. While she and Oliver had been sneaking around the Queen Mansion only weeks before the _Gambit_'s sinking, they hadn't spent as much time in Oliver's room. Oliver had actually upgraded to a 'mini-office' of sorts a few doors down from his actual room, and that was where he and Laurel had studied and slept. _  
_

"_Ah, yes," Laurel replies, amused. "I wore those horrible fishnets."  
_

"_I thought you looked good," Oliver says.  
_

_Laurel seems to realize they're drifting passed attorney-client territory as she turns and says, "Listen, I just wanted to come by and apologize for my father's behavior today. During the polygraph."  
_

"_You don't have to apologize for him," Oliver tells her. "He has a right to feel any way that he wants."  
_

"_It wasn't just Sara, Ollie," Laurel tells him. _

_Oliver is confused. "What do you mean?" _

"_After Sara died, my father threw himself into his work," Laurel replies. "I think that's part of the reason I'm an attorney. He ran to the law and I followed." She takes a moment before she continues, "But my mother couldn't. So she left him." Laurel sighs. "Left us." Seeing Oliver beginning to look guilty, Laurel clarifies, "Look, I'm not trying to tell you this to make you feel bad, or worse. I just-I really want you to understand him."  
_

_Oliver, still looking guilty, asks her something that's bothered him. "Why don't you hate me? You should."  
_

"Why does Oliver feel like he should blame himself?" Laurel asked, frustrated. "He asked Sara to go, and I'm angry about that, but she could've said no! It's as much her fault as it is Oliver's, and since we now know the _Gambit_ was sabotaged" (here, Laurel shot a suspicious glance in Malcolm and Moira's direction) "it's really not the fault of _either of them_." Laurel emphasized the last three words as she shot a look at her father.

"_I did," Laurel confides in him. "For so long, I did, Ollie. But after today, I realized that I was so focused on what happened to my family that I didn't even stop and wonder what could have happened to you." Laurel takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I didn't know about the torture, or your scars. What happened to you on that island was far more than you deserved. And I was wrong that I didn't ask you before, but I'm asking you now. I need to know. I need to see."  
_

"_Are you sure?" Oliver asks. _

"_Yes."  
_

_Oliver slowly unbuttons his shirt and shows her his scars. She runs her hands over them, her expression softening and tears clearly pooling. "How did you survive this?" she asks. _

"_There were times when I wanted to die," Oliver tells her. "In the end there was something I wanted more." _

_The two meet each other's gaze. _

"Oh, boy," Tommy said, recognizing that look. Thea was smirking, and Laurel looking a bit sheepish (Thea wondered if the older woman had that look patented).

_After a moment, the two kiss with both passion and desperation before Laurel pulls away with a gasped, "No." She moves to leave._

Oliver, looking dejected and vulnerable, says, "Laurel, you don't have to go," but Laurel has already shut the door.  


_In a flashback, Fyers is speaking to Oliver. _

Moira, Laurel, and Thea were looking horrified at the state Oliver was in.

"_Amazing. You have resolve I didn't credit you for." He turns to the man who was torturing Oliver. "Or perhaps he truly doesn't know anything. We should put him out of his misery." He gestures to Wintergreen, but before they can kill Oliver, Yao Fei arrives, cutting Oliver loose and briefly fighting with Wintergreen before the two men flee the encampment. _

"Good," Moira breathed, even though she knew her son had survived. She felt a great deal of gratitude towards this Yao Fei, who had saved her son more than once and was giving him lessons in survival.

_At the gun buy, the German arms dealer is meeting with a crew of street thugs. "It's an M249 machine gun. Gas-powered, air-cooled, fires up to 800 rounds per minute." He hands one to one of the thugs, who whistles. The power suddenly goes out, and Mueller and his men flee even as Diggle arrives and takes out two of the street thugs. _

_At Queen Consolidated, Walter is waiting for Moira who arrives in a bit of a huff. "I'm not accustomed to being summoned to the office in the middle of the night," she tells him archly before asking, "Well, what was it that was so important that I had to race down here?" _

_Walter, looking calm, says, "I found the __**Queen's Gambit**__, Moira," Walter tells her, and her expression changes. "sI know you secretly had the boat salvaged. I wanted to move it to a more secure location before confronting you about it. In fact, I sent Josiah Hudson to the warehouse for precisely that purpose. But he died mysteriously in a car accident. I hope you now have a better understanding of why it is I've been so distant of late." Moira, strong woman that she is, shows emotion only in her eyes to reveal she is growing afraid, though not so much for her safety as for Walter's. "It's very disconcerting to discover that the person with whom you share your home, your bed and your heart has been lying to you so convincingly, and I would be a fool not to consider all the things that you have told me were lies."  
_

"_Walter, you're my husband, I—" _

"_Yes, I am," Walter replies stiffly.  
_

"_Walter, please," Moira begs. "You've got to stop looking into this, it's not safe. You'll be-you'll be upsetting people, people with influence. You are very far out of your depth."  
_

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is still in his room when his phone buzzes. Answering it, Diggle tells him, "Man in the hood, one, gangbangers, zero."  
_

_A knock on the door has Oliver saying, "Hang on," to Diggle before calling out, "Yeah?" _

_Outside the door, the man who was tending the bar in the front entryway can be seen, attaching a silencer to a pistol. _

"Oh, shit," Thea muttered softly. Tommy was likewise looking shocked, and Laurel had stiffened. Quentin grimaced, guilty, knowing that his public accusation of Queen (however accurate) had painted a target on his back.

Moira, meanwhile, was giving Malcolm a suspicious glance. The man himself kept a stoic expression, but he recognized the man. He was one of those Malcolm used to deal with certain subversive elements at Merlyn Global, not that the gunman was an official employee there.

"_Mr. Queen, if you're entertaining guests upstairs, should I have some drinks sent up?" _

"_No," Oliver calls. "It's just me up here and I'm on my way back down." He begins walking forward as he speaks quietly to Diggle. "Good job. Now get back here." Oliver opens the door to find the silenced pistol shoved in his face. He reacts, and the two men fight, wrecking some of the room in the process. The gunman breaks away from Oliver and snatches up his weapon, only to be shot from behind by Quentin, who enters. Oliver and Quentin exchange looks._

_Later, in the 'living room' of the Queen Mansion, Quentin is speaking on the phone, making affirmative replies while Tommy, Oliver, and Thea look on. He shuts the phone off. Oliver asks, "How did you know I was in trouble?" _

"_Because when the guy was fighting you, he broke the ankle monitor," Quentin replies as Moira and Walter enter.  
_

"_Are you all right?" Moira demands to know as she comes to see her son's state of health herself. _

"_I'm fine," Oliver replies. _

"_Oliver-" _

"_Mom, I promise," Oliver tells her.  
_

_Moira turns to Quentin, her eyes sparking. "This is on you. By accusing my son publicly, you've made him a target."_

"_Do you have any idea who attacked Oliver?" Walter, once again in the role of mediator, asks. _

"_We haven't identified him," Quentin replies. "Though it must be someone with a grudge against the Hood, obviously." He crouches and begins to detach the ankle monitor.  
_

"_What are you doing?" Oliver asks, though he knew this was coming. _

"_I got a call from my lieutenant," Quentin replies. "An arms dealer was attacked across town tonight." He stands. "By the vigilante. Multiple witnesses put him there." He turns to Moira. "In light of that, all charges against your son are being dropped."  
_

"_I'm truly sorry for what's happened to your family, Quentin," Moira says, and you can tell she's sincere. "But would you kindly get the hell out of my house?" _

_Quentin begins leaving. "Mr. Lance," Oliver calls, and the man turns to face Oliver. "Thank you." Quentin nods briefly, a brief glimpse of the man before Sara's death visible in his face before he leaves.  
_

Laurel smiled at that. So her father was already softening towards Oliver, though she doubted the man knew it himself.

_A brief shot of Starling during the daytime before Moira enters the room where Malcolm is currently packing up items. "Moira," Malcolm says with a tone of mild surprise. "Did we have an appointment?" _

_Moira gives Malcolm a challenging expression as she replies, "No, but I decided to screw propriety after you tried to have my son killed."  
_

"What!?" Tommy cried, looking towards the two. Malcolm met his son's gaze stoically, while Moira glared at Malcolm now that it was all but confirmed.

_Malcolm stares back calmly as he replied, "I'm sure you understand, I was justified in suspecting your son of being the vigilante targeting our associates. I had to take steps."_

"The hell is wrong with you people?" Quentin demanded to know, and this time he didn't give a damn if he pissed off Merlyn. Queen was a killer, sure, but he at least was helping people (that didn't mean Quentin wouldn't arrest the man if he could). Merlyn, though, was protecting _scum_ by trying to have Queen killed. _  
_

"_And now that you know your steps were taken in error, that Oliver is not your enemy?" Moira queries.  
_

_Chuckling, Malcolm replies, "I offer my sincerest apologies."_

_Moira nods, and fixes Malcolm with another look. "I know you found out I had the yacht salvaged, just as I know you had Josiah Hudson killed."  
_

"_Well, accidents tend to befall people who are too curious," Malcolm replies.  
_

"_I've been the good soldier," Moira says, her stance defiant. "I've done everything you asked. But if any member of my family so much as gets a paper cut, I will burn your entire world to ashes." Moira leaves, and Malcolm stares after her, an impressed (at her gall) and admiring (at her steel and body, most likely) expression on his face.  
_

There were a few uncomfortable glances as those viewing realized just how deep the connection between Malcolm and Moira was.

_At the Queen Mansion, Oliver is looking through his room and finds the pouch of herbs. In a flashback, Yao Fei helps Oliver back into the cave and leans him against the wall. "I tell you, island dangerous, but you not tell them where to find me. You stronger than I thought." He gives Oliver the pouch. "Take it. I lead them off, you stay. Breathe. You breathe, you survive here longer." Yao Fei moves away quickly.  
_

"_No! I'm coming with you!" Oliver calls out, but Yao Fei activates the camoflauge, blocking the way out. _

_In the present, Laurel arrives in Oliver's room. He turns to look at her. "Rough party," he says by way of explanation.  
_

"_My father told me what happened," Laurel says. "Are you ok?" _

"_Yeah, I'm fine," Oliver says, his attention directed to the envelope in Laurel's hand.  
_

"_These are your polygraph results," she says. Oliver has a brief expression of apprehension. "My father asked you if you'd ever been to Iron Heights. It's the prison where the vigilante saved me last week. It's also where you and I went on our eighth grade field trip. When you said that you had never been there, I thought maybe you were just nervous, or that you'd forgotten. But then I looked at your results, and there is a slight flutter in your answer to that question. And if you lied on one, you could have lied on others." She's studying him, looking for any sign of the vigilante.  
_

"_What happened to me being too selfish to be a masked crusader?" Oliver asks. _

"_Oliver! I saw your scars," Laurel begins.  
_

_Oliver cuts her off. "Do you want to know why I don't talk about what happened to me there? Because if people knew; if you knew. . . . You'd see me differently. And not as some vigilante guy. As damaged. I don't sleep. I barely eat. I can barely sign my name, let alone aim a bow and arrow."_

"In a way, he's telling the truth," Slade said, drawing the attention of the others again. He met their gazes evenly. "The Oliver Queen you knew died the moment he washed up on Lian Yu. What remains is what was forged in the fires of Purgatory. By all accounts, the Oliver Queen you knew would be in that exact state as he described, the state you would expect him to be in. He knows you well, Ms. Lance. He knew what you expected, and gave it to you."

_Laurel studies him for a moment longer before changing the subject. "After last night clearly we're still attracted to one another. Oliver. Nothing can ever happen between us."  
_

"_I know." _

_At the lair, Oliver and Diggle are re-arranging it now that there's two of them. "So you lied to her," Diggle says, his arms folded and watching Oliver carefully. "Or maybe you just gave her a version of the truth."  
_

_Oliver, who is moving his Island crate from the floor to a table set up near the computers, says, "I told her what she needed to hear, Diggle. She was too close."  
_

"_Sad thing is, I think you actually believe that," Diggle says. "I think things didn't go down exactly how you planned. You didn't count on so many people having questions, doubting you." A brief glimpse of Thea looking up hosens._

"_You didn't think about what happens when you lie."  
_

"_Thank you, Chris," Walter says.  
_

"_Walter?" Moira asks. _

_Diggle continues to speak, as the scene between Walter and Moira plays out. "Especially when you lie to the ones you love the most."  
_

"_What is this?" Moira asks. _

"_Business trip," Walter tells her. "I decided it's long overdue for me to inspect our holdings in Melbourne."  
_

"_And how long will you be?" _

"_I don't know."_

_As Moira watches Walter leave, the devastation clear in her eyes, Diggle's voice-over continues. "When you were stuck on that island plotting your grand plan to save the city, I don't think you stopped to consider the effect it would have on the people in your life."  
_

_At a bar, Laurel's found Quentin, once again drunk, and works to get him to leave. _

"_Or how it might hurt them," Diggle says as the focus returns to the lair.  
_

"_You're wrong," Oliver replies. "I think about it all the time. And just to be clear, not being able to tell my family the truth. . . . It doesn't hurt anyone worse than it hurts me." Oliver moves to prepare for a mission.  
_

"_Where are you going?" Diggle asks rhetorically. _

"_Mueller still has to sell those guns and I have to stop him," Oliver replies.  
_

"_Oliver," Diggle begins. _

"_He had his chance," Oliver replies, his face and tone shifting to that of the vigilante.  
_

Malcolm smirked. He didn't like Mueller. He had used him to provide weapons for the police via Adam Hunt, but that didn't mean he enjoyed knowing such a man. Now he would receive his just reward.

_At the buy, Mueller's associate says, "28 crates, four guns in each crate, $250,000 cash. Take it or leave it, that's the deal." Before the deal can go through, Mueller and his buyers are attacked by Oliver, who takes them all out swiftly and without stopping. _

_Mueller finds himself standing, his arms up in an attempt at surrender, only feet away from the Starling City vigilante. "Leo Mueller, you have failed this city!" The arrow is loosed, and Mueller screams. _

As the memory sequence ended, breakfast arrived. They ate quietly, absorbing what they had seen. Blood, who had remained silent the entire sequence, finally aired his views. "Mr. Queen is a hero to the people of the Glades, in my eyes," he said quietly, drawing the attention of the others. "Regardless of what the rest of you decide, I'm casting my lot in with the Hood."

Above them, Roy Harper looked to the side, where Oliver Queen was likewise watching the gathering. "Did you expect that?"

"Yes, I did," Oliver replied. "Sebastian was a good friend. He was the one who told me about crucibles." Roy nodded, remembering that long-ago conversation when he had earned his mask from Oliver, right before the battle in the tunnel and Thea's departure with her bastard of a father.

"When do you think Slade will turn?"

"If he does, it won't be until he finds out what really happened, before and after Shado's death," Oliver replied. He knew that when that happened, regardless of the Mirakuru, Slade would transfer his hatred of Oliver to Sara Lance; but luckily, she would have the League of Assassins to back her up for the time being. That _should_ keep her safe until Slade could let go of his hatred.

_If_ Slade could let go of his hatred. . . .

_**A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed it. I know there's not a lot of comments or introspection in this one. But as I said, this was more a transitory sort of episode, and the only points of note were Malcolm and Moira's meetings, IMO. **_


End file.
